Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 105

In May 1919, three U.S. Navy seaplanes completed the first successful trans-Atlantic crossing to Europe. Lieutenant Walter Hinton piloted one of them, and his firsthand account of that history-making flight opens this eclectic collection of twenty reader-chosen nonfiction pieces. The volume pulses with early aviation wonder, from Hinton's aerial memoir to a practical treatise on airport design. But the sky is only the beginning. Here too are scientific investigations into how daylight controls plant flowering, why birds wear feathers, and the curious weather patterns of 1911. Personal narratives recount rugged camping trips and America's Cup drama. Cultural essays probe Surrealism in wartime, what Thomas Paine willed to posterity, and how a young man might properly study poetry. Beer gets defended as baseball fuel. Wild flowers get their due. The result is a time capsule of curious minds at work, spanning from 1911 to 1942, when nonfiction writers still delighted in explaining the world to interested readers. For anyone who wants to hear people think aloud about everything under the sun.