West with the Night

The classic memoir of Africa, aviation, and adventure-the inspiration for Paula McLain's Circling the Sun and "e;a bloody wonderful book"e; (Ernest Hemingway). Beryl Markham's life story is a true epic. Not only did she set records and break barriers as a pilot, she shattered societal expectations, threw herself into torrid love affairs, survived desperate crash landings and chronicled everything. A contemporary of Karen Blixen (better known as Isak Dinesen, the author of Out of Africa), Markham left an enduring memoir that soars with astounding candor and shimmering insights. A rebel from a young age, the British-born Markham was raised in Kenya's unforgiving farmlands. She trained as a bush pilot at a time when most Africans had never seen a plane. In 1936, she accepted the ultimate challenge: to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean from east to west, a feat that fellow female aviator Amelia Earhart had completed in reverse just a few years before. Markham's successes and her failures and her deep, lifelong love of the "e;soul of Africa"e; are all told here with wrenching honesty and agile wit. Hailed as "e;one of the greatest adventure books of all time"e; by Newsweek and "e;the sort of book that makes you think human beings can do anything"e; by the New York Times, West with the Night remains a powerful testament to one of the iconic lives of the twentieth century.