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Edward Rickenbacker
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Rickenbacker: An Autobiography First Edition

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 128 ratings
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Signed By Rickenbacker on Endpaper..458 Pages
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  1. ISBN-10
    9780137810055
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0137810055
  3. Edition
    First Edition
  4. Publisher
    Prentice-Hall, Inc.
  5. Publication date
    June 1, 1967
  6. Language
    English
  7. Print length
    458 pages
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0137810059
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Prentice-Hall, Inc.; First Edition (June 1, 1967)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 458 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780137810055
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0137810055
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 128 ratings

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Edward Rickenbacker

Edward Rickenbacker

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
128 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

WashMIEd
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing and inspirational
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2015
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This is an incredible autobiography. Captain Rickenbacker lived a life that was incredible beyond belief - you couldn't make up such a story. The writing itself was spellbinding - it was hard to put this book down. Not many men in the 20th century had such a great and positive impact on the western world - and he could have had even a greater impact, were it not for the stubbornness of certain "leaders" that refused to listen.
I had the privilege of meeting him when I was only ten years old. Although I can remember being awestruck and tongue-tied, I still had little appreciation for what a great man he was until I read this book - nearly half a century later.
4 people found this helpful
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Mr. Tasteful
5.0 out of 5 stars Captain Rickenbacker's story needs to be read by every American
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2013
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I must have read this book at least two dozen times when I was a boy. My Dad worked for the Boy Scouts professionally, and Captain Rickenbacker donated a copy to every school library in the country, and to every Scout council in the country. Its target audience were young boys, and the Captain pulled a few punches here and there in telling his story. For example, concerning the death of his father, he told us that his father's "head was struck by a swinging timber" while at work on a night construction shift. This was true, but what he didn't say was that the timber was swung by a disgruntled co-worker in the midst of an Ohio heat wave. The man did time for voluntary manslaughter. The story of how he met his wife was similarly softened, as were others. With his auto racing and WWI exploits he pulled no punches.

He had an iron discipline and will to succeed, and that quality showed itself throughout his life. His example is a great inspiration to those of my generation, and should be to those of any generation. His story is well-told and gripping from first page to last.

He was a gifted and intuitive mechanical engineer, and he was largely self-taught. He intimately understood the language of the internal-combustion engine, and through knowledge acquired as a boy in machine shops and on the auto racing circuit of the Teens, he was able to apply his gifts to the aircraft of his squadron. He refined his airplane engines' function so well that he was averaging one hundred hours of flight between major overhauls, whereas the other pilots were averaging only eighteen. Gun jams were a huge problem in the infancy of air combat, and he developed many refinements to both his weapons and his ammunition.

Later on, when General Manager of Eastern Airlines, his mechanics were having problems with one of the propeller-driven engines, and they couldn't get it to run right. They even took it apart piece by piece on a huge table. Captain Rickenbacker dropped by the shop one day to see if he could help, and as he looked at the engine in pieces, his eye fell on a gear about the size of a saucer, which to him didn't look right. He asked the head mechanic to check the blueprints to see how many teeth the gear was supposed to have. The man replied forty-six. Eddie replied, "Here's your problem, this one has forty-seven."

Captain Rickenbacker was a patriot who instantly responded to the call to serve America in both wartime and peace. He completed an astoundingly successful mission deep in the USSR during WWII acting as a consultant to the Soviet military from the USA's Lend-Lease program. Through his engineering prowess, he was of inestimable value to the Russians in helping them get the most out of the American planes they were flying. In return, he accumulated a massive amount of military intelligence that the Allied military sorely needed.

This story should be read and appreciated by every American.
9 people found this helpful
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Chris
5.0 out of 5 stars As good now as in 1967!
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020
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I bought this book to help a young man read. I thought it was the same printing as my original back in '67.
It is different , ( the page numbers are different) but it is all there.
A great man and a very good book.
This does not read in a dated fashion as one might expect. Chris
2 people found this helpful
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T. morton
4.0 out of 5 stars Revisiting a favourite.
Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2011
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I've read Eddie Rickenbacker's autobiography several times over my life and have been struck by various ideas at different points. When I read it at twelve it was simply a marvelous and very readable adventure story. At sixteen, when I'd begun to possess the faintest glimmerings of self awareness, what instead struck me was EVR's incredible will to survive and thrive. Everything from his survival as a pilot during WW1 and his stranding in the Pacific to his successful business dealings seemed to flow from a deep well of determination and the willingness to use his mind and equip it with the best tools possible. Now a decade further down the line I'm struck by more ephemeral things. The spirit of hopefulness and belief that the future WILL be better because one has the power to make it better is a nice contrast to the ugly cynicism and fatalism that seems to pervade our culture. Finally I'm impressed by how clear sighted many of his predictions were. It isn't so surprising that he should be able to see advances in the automotive and aircraft industries but his presaging of the upheavals of race relations in the later 60s (though they turned out far better than he predicted) the idiocy of U.S. foreign policy which continues (to fail) even today, the rise of Japan, the ambitions of the P.R.C., and the bloody chaos of Africa are all mentioned. a remarkable man and a remarkable life, I intend to revisit this book for many more decades!
23 people found this helpful
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Bert D. Dulong
5.0 out of 5 stars Spell-binding from the first page
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2008
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Eddie Rickenbacker's autobiography is a book that needs to be rediscovered. Published in the late 60's, it is ripe for a new audience. Told in a straightforward yet compelling manner, this autobiography has a warmth and passion that will make you disappointed to finish the book.

I borrowed "Rickenbacker" from my hometown public library as a kid and was engrossed for nearly 450 pages. You need 450 pages to tell your story if you're a quintessential American like Rickenbacker. From the first line ("My life has been filled with adventures that have brought me face to face with death") this book takes you through "Lucky Eddie's" amazing experiences: child of immigrants, race car driver in the early 1900's, leader of the famed "Hat in the Ring Squadron" and America's Ace of Aces in World War I, Car company founder, President of Eastern Airlines who was aboard the first Eastern Airliner that crashed... and survived only to go down in the Pacific visiting the troops in World War II and spend 24 days on a life raft with 6 others.

More importantly, Rickenbacker highlights the character values and beliefs that propelled his life: the values of hard-working immigrant parents combined with the boundless opportunity of America.

After 40 years, I had to find a copy of Rickenbacker to keep on my shelves for my kids and grandkids to read. Let's hope someone will republish this book. As the flyleaf notes, Eddie Rickenbacker was a legend in his own lifetime. And boy, can he tell a story!
16 people found this helpful
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Francis E Dumont
5.0 out of 5 stars Quality description
Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2023
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Top reviews from other countries

louise fraser
1.0 out of 5 stars Unreadable. Disappointing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2021
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This is the first book in my life that I haven’t been able to finish. It is page after page of bigheaded dirge written by a hero of mine and the content of his life should make for a fascinating read. Sadly he must’ve got old and believed all he has written and become a complete know it all. Amazing life and achievements but not an ounce of his once humble outlook survived past the first war. It reads like a Harry Enfield sketch with “only me” as the main character. This is hilarious when in the mid pacific the other two lifeboats break orders and row away from the irritating self believing bore risking death over suffering another minute listening to his drivel. Well that is where I sadly got to with his book. I tried and tried until the latter part of the book but the accumulation of flannel got too much and I had to put the book down once and for all. Awful and if only he had let someone else write his story.
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