The roaring twenty : the first cross-country air race for women

"The Roaring Twenty" tells the tale of the 1929 air derby for women pilots.

This extraordinary story charts the first women's long-distance airplane race, a 2,800-mile saga across the United States.

Competition was serious, and the event was risky - so much Competition was serious, and the event was risky - so much so that one of the 19 young women who participated didn't live through it.

Braving stormy weather, mechanical difficulties, collisions, typhoid fever, and even claims of sabotage, not to mention the condescending and sometimes hostile press, the 18 who finished were lucky to do so.

The nine-day race broke at night for banquets and balls, as the women pilots were feted by a fascinated public.

Amelia Earhart was the most famous participant, but colourful characters abounded, including cigar-smoking Florence "Pancho" Barnes and New York society rebel Opal Kunz.

The derby laid the foundation for the "99s" the first organization of women pilots, a group that flourishes to this day.

Fifty duotone photographs accompany the text.