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Title: Nice book, not really a biography
Review: "Wings of Madness" is a great book, entertaining and informative. But it is much less a biography of Santos-Dumont than an account of the development of his flying machines. While the author provides detailed descriptions of Santos-Dumont's attempts to conquer the air, a fair amount of the history of manned flight, and even digresses about the development and the creators of military weapons (an interesting analysis by the way), we learn little about this extraordinary man and his activities outside the aviation realm. The years before his arrival in Paris and those after he built his last airplane are condensed in only two chapters.The tale of Santos-Dumont's endeavors in Paris in the early 20th century is thrilling and admirably recounted by Paul Hoffman, but my thirst for learning more about Santos-Dumont's life was far from quenched.
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