Midge Gillies

This is the astounding story of the six female aviators who battled to become the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by plane. In the early 20th century, the dream of crossing the Atlantic by air was as potent as putting a man on the moon would be 50 years later. But many people believed women too fragile and lacking in the skills to endure the gruelling conditions of flying long distances. In Atlantic Furies, Midge Gillies uncovers the stories of Elsie Mackay, Lady Anne Savile, Frances Grayson, Ruth Elder, Amelia Earhart, and Mabel Boll. These courageous, rule-breaking aviators risked everything to prove that women could fly the Atlantic. Some had lied to their families in order not to be stopped, others duped the press about their intentions and, ultimately, three lost their lives, but each pushed the boundaries of the possible. Atlantic Furies celebrates the bravery, panache, and drive of these trail-blazing aviators, who showed the world that it wasn’t just men who could conquer the skies.

According to popular myth, Allied prisoners of war during the Second World War spent most of their time escaping. In fact, from Germany to the Far East, they were doing much more remarkable things. Faced with the prospect of years of boredom, these servicemen took up the crafts and professions they'dpursued before their captivity - or set about learning new ones. They formed orchestras(asking the Red Cross to send kettle drums), sat accountancy exams (textbooks,please), dressed up in drag and put on operas. They contested Ashes series, laidout golf courses in the exercise yard. When they needed medical care, their ownsurgeons perfected camp dentistry, fashioned prosthetic limbs. Actors like Clive Dunn and Donald Pleasance, cartoonists like Ronald Searle, artists like Terry Frost - all developed, or even first plied, their crafts while POWs. Little wonderthat one camp in Germany became known as 'the Barbed-Wire University' . . . Acclaimed on firstpublication, this superb book is now reissued with an extensive Afterword.