Tomboy of the Air: Daredevil Pilot Blanche Stuart Scott

Ms. Cummins has produced a very attractive small volume on Blanche Stuart Scott, pioneer aviator. The volume is well designed, as might be expected from a mainline publisher (Harper Collins) and the text is informative. While the book yields a good notion of who Ms. Stuart Scott was, a better exposition of Ms. Stuart Scott's 'crustiness' would probably have increased our understanding. There are the inevitable errors, of course, including an unfortunate caption of a photograph (on page 49) mistakenly identifying Lincoln Beachey as the aviator of a Wright biplane. Also, there is confusion about the supposed role of a non-existent sand bag in the fatal fall of Harriet Quimby and William Willard at Squantum, Massachusetts, in 1911. Taken as a whole, however, this book is well worth the purchase price and adds to our knowledge of one of the most colorful aviators of the pre-WWI period.