Spread Your Wings: Icarus to 1912

In a lavishly illustrated book, Jacqueline Gibbons takes the reader on a stardust-sprinkled voyage through early aviation. We meet many of the accepted pioneers, including women, and learn about the Canadian contribution heavily supported by American inventor Alexander Graham Bell and brilliant US engine designer Glen Curtiss.
… this unashamedly enthusiastic and ambitious account of the early heroic age of aviation takes the reader along at a spanking pace and truly makes time fly by.
… Lt. Col Peter Reese. Aviation Author, UK

The history of human flight is a story interwoven among cultures, myths, and individual stories. Spread Your Wings: Icarus to 1912 portrays the progression from imagination to experimentation in a fascinating look at the people who led humanity to machine-powered aviation. Dr. Gibbons captures unique narratives of perseverance among a diverse cadre of individuals who overcame barriers, both social and engineering, through collaboration and inventiveness. It is fascinating to juxtapose the stories of well-known inventors and experimenters with the little-known stories of so many others whose achievements are brought to light in the book.
… James Quint, Executive Director, Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, Hammondsport, New York, USA

Men and Women across the world and throughout the ages have dreamed of defying the gravity that prevents them from seeing the world in all of its beauty. Jacqueline Gibbons has beautifully and eloquently told the many stories that belong to the narrative of our ambition to take flight. Spread Your Wings is a narrative that is rich in storytelling, illustrations, and photographs, from the Greeks & Egyptians, through the Middle Ages along the way to the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk and Ingenuity on Mars.
… Shawn Perras, Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, Hamilton, Ontario Canada

Anecdotes and interesting incidents are to be found in every chapter, and one of the great features is the inclusion of many women aviators who each well deserve a place in the history of pioneering flight, but who may not be so well known to readers. Edith Berg, Thérèse Peltier, Blanche Stuart Scott, Bessica Raiche, Harriet Quimby … are all described in a way which truly brings them and their exploits to life.

The pictures are all very well chosen, including people as well as flying machine photographs and early drawings, and the reproduction quality is exceptionally high, as is the design and presentation of the whole book, which comes complete with a useful glossary, selected aviation websites and references. A most excellent publication, a real joy to read, and certainly one to keep handy for references!

Spread Your Wings by Jacqueline Gibbons offers a fascinating look at human engagement with the idea of flight, from its diverse renderings in myth and literature through to the pioneering efforts of both men and women whose passionate pursuit of the skies first turned the dream of ‘flying like a bird’ into reality. Gibbons guides her reader through various figures and motifs of flight in Greek mythology (Icarus, the Sirens, and Pegasus), folklore (The Arabian Nights), and contemporary literature (Harry Potter) to trace the deep roots of flight in human imagination, before shifting focus to the historical figures who attempted or made the leap from imaginary to real flight. Notably, Gibbons makes sure to include in her book the many women who partook in our earliest explorations of the sky, dedicating two entire chapters to the achievements of these too-often-forgotten figures of aeronautic history (Élizabeth Thible, Marie Madeline-Sophie Blanchard, Aida De Acosta, and Edith Berg among them). Accessibly written, meticulously researched, and beautifully illustrated, Spread Your Wings brings together a wealth of knowledge about the human quest to take flight and the many individuals and inventions that opened our way to the sky.
… Dr. Pia Kleber, Professor of Drama & Comparative Literature, Helen and Paul Phelan Chair in Drama, University of Toronto, University College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada