Rickenbacker: An Autobiography by Eddie Rickenbacker is a 512-page hardcover published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. The dust jacket and numerous creases, tears and surface rubbing. Inside, the cover has mild stains on the back. The spine is slightly cocked. The pages are clean, unmarked and in pristine condition. The condition is very good.
Here is the long-awaited story of one of the most exciting American heroes of the century. It begins with Captain Rickenbacker's earliest memories as a boy in Columbus, Ohio, and proceeds through a fantastic series of incidents and adventures up to the present time.
A legend in his own lifetime, Rickenbacker was one of the earliest racing car drivers on the national circuit, competing against all the greats of that sport's infancy and eventually owning and running the Indianapolis Speedway for twenty years.
His enthusiasm for speed, for mechanical perfection and for victory became focused on aviation. And, during World War I, he joined up, was sent to France with General Pershing's American Expeditionary Forces, and finally worked his way into the Air Force service. He battle in the skies with Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus, flew the most perilous missions, downed 26 enemy aircraft, became America's Ace of Aces--earning nineteen decorations for bravery in action and was universally known as "Captain Eddie."
In this gripping story, great moments of history and their colorful personalities are re-created: flying in the 20's, the early airmail flights, the trial of Billy Mitchell, the tragedy of the Hindenburg, the Depression Years, the building of the American Airline industry; anecdotes and behind-the-scenes stories of world-renowned personalities: Barney Oldfield, Raoul Lufbery, Herbert Hoover, FDR, Churchill, Eisenhower, MacArthur, and many others.
