Fine condition blue cloth boards/black cloth spine/gold spine lettering contained in a very good condition non-price-clipped color illustrated dust jacket. Acknowledgments; Appendix: Degrees Receives, and Citations and Medals; and Index. Profusely illustrated with numerous sections of black-and-white photographs. A crease at the upper front jacket edge (see photographs). The page edges are somewhat age-toned (see photographs). All pages are otherwise in fine condition and the spine/binding is in exceedingly tight and square unread condition (see photographs). "Here is the long-awaited story of one of the most exciting American heroes of this 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 Service. He battled 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." After the war, Captain RIckenbacker went back to the automobile business, built his own company and his own car and finally joined General Motors. In a great financial battle he won the right of way to buy Eastern Air Lines from General Motors. In 1941 Rickenbacker served as special confidential consultant to War Secretary Henry L. Stimson, traveling to every fighting front in the world. Heading out on a 1942 Pacific mission, he and his crew crashed into the sea. They spent and incredible 24 days and nights floating in rubber rafts until rescued. In this gripping story, great moments of history and their colorful personalities are re-created: flying in the 20's, the early air-mail flights, the trials 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. The triumphs and trial of Eddie Rickenbacker have thrilled Americans for fifty years. From the first turbulent days which marked the birth of the automobile and the airplane, through two World Wars and into the Jet Age, Captain Eddie's genius, nerve and strong will have kept him constantly in the public eye." -- excerpt from jacket.