Books like

Books like The Wright Brothers

12 books with a reading profile close to The Wright Brothers by David McCullough. Outward-looking and clear-cut; a moderate read.

1

Alexander the Great

by Philip Freeman

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, biography

Philip Freeman traces the trajectory of the Macedonian king from his tutelage under Aristotle to his sudden death at age thirty-two.
2

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling

by Ross King

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, biography

Ross King reconstructs the four-year ordeal of painting the Sistine Chapel, focusing on the volatile relationship between Michelangelo Buonarroti and Pope Julius II.
3

Seabiscuit

by Laura Hillenbrand

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, biography

In the depths of the Great Depression, an undersized, crooked-legged horse named Seabiscuit became an unlikely racing icon.
4

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time

by Dava Sobel

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, biography

Dava Sobel chronicles the eighteenth-century race to determine a ship's east-west position at sea, a challenge that caused frequent shipwrecks and stunted global trade.
5

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

by Erik Larson

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, biography

Erik Larson chronicles Winston Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister, focusing on the period from May 1940 to May 1941 during the height of the German Blitz.
6

Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot

by Bill O'Reilly

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, biography

Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard reconstruct the timeline leading to the assassination of John F.
7

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

by Candice Millard

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, biography

Following a stinging electoral defeat in 1912, Theodore Roosevelt headed into the Amazon basin to map an unchartered tributary alongside Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon.
8

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

by Simon Winchester

Also clear-cut · history, biography

In 1879, James Murray began the monumental task of compiling the first Oxford English Dictionary, a project requiring the categorization of every word in the language alongside its chronological history.
9

AMERICAN STRUGGLE

by Jon Meacham

Also outward-looking · history, biography

Jon Meacham analyzes four centuries of American political and social friction to explain how structural divisions have repeatedly threatened national stability.
10

Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune

by Bill Dedman

Also clear-cut · history, biography

Huguette Clark was the daughter of copper magnate W.A.
11

Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission

by Hampton Sides

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, narrative

Hampton Sides chronicles the 1945 raid on the Cabanatuan prisoner of war camp in the Philippines.
12

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex

by Nathaniel Philbrick

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, narrative

In the winter of 1820, a massive sperm whale repeatedly rammed and sank the whaleship Essex in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

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