On 14th June 1919 – eight years before Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic – two men from Manchester took off in an open-cockpit Vickers Vimy and flew into the history books. They battled through a sixteen-hour journey of snow, ice and continuous cloud, with a non-functioning wireless and a damaged exhaust that made it impossible to hear each other. And then, just five hours away from Ireland and high above the sea, the Vimy stalled. Yesterday We Were in America is the incredible story of John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown, and how they gave hope to a post-war world that was in grave need of it.
The author Brendan Lynch is a former racing cyclist and driver. He is a member of the Irish Writers Union, PEN and the Guild of Motoring Writers. He has reported and contributed motorsport features to media ranging from The Times, Observer and Daily Mail to the Irish Times, The European and overseas periodicals. He researched this book on both sides of the Atlantic and interviewed the last surviving witness to the Vimy’s arrival and the late Steve Fossett, who replicated the flight in 2005.
Author Len Deighton said; “The story of this historical flight has been shamefully neglected. Alcock and Brown showed the way but the lesson was not learned.”
John Alcock’s nephew, Group Captain A J H Alcock, MBE, described Yesterday We Were In America as: “A comprehensive and exciting account of one of the greatest feats of early aviation completed by two determined and courageous British pioneers.”
Len Deighton said: “Brendan Lynch, in this excellent book, tells their story with the skill of a dedicated researcher and the talent of a popular novelist. Yesterday We Were in America is a very fine book; I only wish I had written it.
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