Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved

The mystery surrounding Amelia Earhart--who disappeared in the Pacific along with her navigator while attempting to fly around the world in June 1937--has long haunted the popular imagination. Myth and investigative reporting have variously claimed that she became a housewife in suburban New Jersey or a spy for the Defense Department who was captured by the Japanese. In this new investigation, which draws upon 25 years of research and recently rediscovered logs of Earhart's last radio transmissions, the Longs claim to have solved the mystery of her disappearance. The information that they present is convincing but less than startling--essentially, Earhart and her navigator, after hitting a lot of bad weather, ran out of gas. In this respect, the book will appeal only to die-hard Earhart fans. The ""mystery"" aside, the Longs' detailed look at Earhart's career and the history of early aviation affords a host of other pleasures, chief among them a nearly moment-by-moment description of the fatal flight itself. Communicating their love of flying and the sheer sense of adventure early flyers experienced, the Longs create a tense and at times hair-raising narrative out of the simple routines and extraordinary perils of piloting the primitive aircraft of the early 20th century. While their attention to detail may not grip casual readers who are uninterested in minute descriptions of the mechanics of early planes, the authors present a complete picture of Earhart's fate and offer a tribute to her bravery and risk taking. 4-city author tour; 20-city radio satellite tour. (Nov.)