Colonel Cody and the Flying Cathedral Author:Garry Jenkins Part Barnum, part Baron Munchausen, part Orville Wright, Cody cut one of the most colorful and controversial figures of his age. During his early years in America, he worked the same cattle trails as Buffalo Bill, played the same Dodge City roulette tables as Wyatt Earp and competed with the legendary Annie Oakley for the title of King of ... more »the Wild West sharpshooters. In Britain, with his wife and her two sons, he formed the country's foremost Wild West family, but his fame reached its apex when he pioneered powered flight. A passionate kite-builder, he became official inventor to the army's Balloon Factory at Farnborough, only to be forced to fight a bitter battle with the Army and his better-funded rivals to become the first man to fly in England. In the wake of his pioneering flight he became what Vanity Fair called "the British public's chief and best showman of flight".
In an age of flamboyant pioneers, 'Colonel' Samuel Cody reigned as its showman supreme yet now he has become a minor footnote in history. "Colonel Cody and the Flying Cathedral" brings this monumental figure back to vivid life.« less