20hrs. 40 min.

In 20 hrs. 40 min., (New York, Knickerbacker Press, 1928), Amelia Earhart gives a brief summary of her younger days, and then goes on to give a detailed story of her flight across the Atlantic.

20 hrs. 40 min. opens with Amelia Earhart as a nurses aid in Toronto, Canada. Canada had been at war for 4 years and Amelia saw that there was war work that she could do. The devastation of war affected her whole outlook on life. Planes were a part of war, and this is where Amelia was first introduced to aviation. She believed that the inevitability of flying was one of the few worth-while things that emerged from the war.

At the end of her short hospital career, she became a patient herself with an infection and a rather long period of recovery. From Toronto, she briefly moved to New York, and then on to Los Angeles. Her Father took her to an air show in Long Beach, and it was there that she knew she wanted to fly. The next day she had her first lesson. From this point on she was addicted to flying. She quickly became an expert pilot and set many records. In the remainder of 20 hrs. 40 min. Amelia gives her detailed log of the flight across the Atlantic as commander of the Friendship. Bad weather had delayed their leaving until June 18th, 1928. Flying through dense fog for most of their journey, they landed in South Wales and not in Ireland as had been planned and with very little fuel left. After her flight, she was overwhelmed by the press and fans because she was the first woman to cross the Atlantic. Amelia was distressed because the others on the plane were ignored by the reporters. Amelia said that she was only a passenger and didn’t understand why she was receiving so much attention.

Amelia Earhart proved that if you set your mind to accomplishing a goal, it can happen. She determined at an early age that she wanted to fly when few other women were licensed pilots. If people of today would set goals early in life and stick to them, they would have a greater chance for success.

20 hrs. 40 min. is an extraordinary book. Amelia Earhart set her goals higher than most other female aviators. She placed women in the forefront by being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, becoming an instant media success. She took full advantage of this position to promote flying, especially for women.

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