{"product_id":"9780786885718-secondhand-wings-of-madness-alberto-santos-dumont-and-the-invention-of-flight","title":"Wings of Madness: Alberto Santos-Dumont and the Invention of Flight","description":"\u003cp\u003eNow in paperback, an \"unforgettably good book [told] with compassion and sympathy\" (Simon Winchester,  New York Times ) about an eccentric aviator and the thrilling early days of flight. From Paul Hoffman, the acclaimed author of  The Man Who Loved Only Numbers , comes this engaging true story of the man who was once hailed worldwide as the conqueror of the air--Alberto Santos-Dumont. Because the Wright brothers worked in secrecy, word of their first flights had not reached Europe when Santos-Dumont took to the skies in 1906. The dashing and impeccably dressed aeronaut stunned and delighted Paris, barhopping around the city in a one-man dirigible he invented, circling above crowds and crashing into rooftops. Yet Santos-Dumont was a frenzied genius tortured by the weight of his own creation.  Wings of Madness  is a riveting, brilliantly told story of this tormented man who helped to usher in the modern age and who epitomized the increasingly tortured spirit of the twentieth century--it is elegant, fascinating, and deeply moving.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48888949473499,"sku":"9780786885718-SECONDHAND","price":12.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/9780786885718-us-300.jpg?v=1781838635","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/9780786885718-secondhand-wings-of-madness-alberto-santos-dumont-and-the-invention-of-flight","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}