Perspective

Russell Freedman (1929-present)

The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane was written by noted author Russell Freedman. Freedman is known for having published 50 biographies as well as two dozen books on animal behaviors. According to Freedman's publisher, he prefers to be referred to as a "factual writer" as opposed to a non-fiction author. In Freedman's mind, non-fiction is made out to be boring and less interesting and entertaining than fiction. Freedman disagrees.

As with all of his books, Freedman wrote The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane because he was interested in the topic. Freedman is keen on picking topics and people that fascinate him. Freedman also believes in using photography to help tell a story. This technique is used liberally throughout the book.

Freedman manages to interject personal stories and correspondence along with many photographs while not losing the thread of the story. Freedman paints...