The Big Hop
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  • Published: 12 June 2025
  • ISBN: 9781529947274
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $55.00
Categories:

The Big Hop

The First Non-stop Flight Across the Atlantic and Into the Future

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
23 Sep 2025
EBook
12 Jun 2025
Audiobook
12 Jun 2025
Hardback
12 Jul 2025
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The powerful true story of the first flight across the Atlantic – and of the ordinary heroes who risked their lives to race in pursuit of progress

'David Rooney is an expert storyteller with a big heart, capturing not only the perils faced by the intrepid airmen who attempted the flight, but also their humanity' JOHN LANCASTER, author of The Great Air Race

Newfoundland, 1919. Buffeted by winds, an unwieldy aircraft – made mainly from wood and stiff linen – struggled to take off from the North American island’s rocky slopes. Cramped side by side in its open cockpit were two men, freezing cold and barely able to move but resolute. They had a dream: to be the first in human history to fly, non-stop, across the Atlantic Ocean. But there were three other teams competing against them, and as the waves raged a few miles below, memories of wartime crashes resurfaced . . .

It was just over six months since the ‘War to End all Wars’ had come to its close. Between them, the seven young aviators who would get off the ground for the transatlantic race had already defied death many times. Mining letters, diaries and evocative unpublished photographs, David Rooney’s deeply researched account of the audacious contest shows how it was the airmen’s thrilling wartime experiences that ultimately led them to the ‘Big Hop’, and brought old friends together for one more daring adventure.

These Atlantic pioneers weren’t scientists or stoical upper-class officers. They were ordinary, working men, risking their lives in the name of progress. Unjustly forgotten by history, they nonetheless paved the way for the Earharts and Lindberghs who came after – and ushered in the age of global connection in which we live now.

A non-stop flight across the Atlantic might seem routine today; almost a chore. But it is only possible because of those who went first.
  • Published: 12 June 2025
  • ISBN: 9781529947274
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $55.00
Categories:

Also by David Rooney

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Praise for The Big Hop

Praise for David Rooney: 'About Time is abundantly clever, with myriad fascinations on every page'

Simon Winchester, New York Times

'An utterly dazzling book'

Jerry Brotton, author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps

'Startlingly original'

Literary Review

'Fascinating ... it’s to Rooney’s credit that although he clearly knows a colossal amount about clocks, he wears his learning very lightly'

Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times

'A fascinating volume on what clocks say both to us and about us ... full of riches ... a valuable intellectual journey at a moment ripe for contemplation'

Michael O'Donnell, Wall Street Journal

'One of the most astonishing moments in aviation history finally gets its due in The Big Hop, a vivid and utterly compelling account of the 1919 contest to cross the Atlantic by plane. David Rooney is an expert storyteller with a big heart, capturing not only the perils faced by the intrepid airmen who attempted the flight, but also their humanity'

John Lancaster, author of The Great Air Race

‘The Big Hop is a fabulous book. It works on every level, balancing technological know-how with superb characterisation. A gripping read.’

Jacky Hyams, author of Hurricane

'Enchanting ... Blends biography and scientific history in nimble measure. ... [A] very fine book'

Unseen Histories

[An] excellent book…[The Big Hop] consists of colourful biographical sketches of the aviators who took part in the competition and thrilling accounts of their efforts

Daily Mail

The Big Hop is a delectable serving of escapist nostalgia, a heroic adventure story perfect for a time when genuine heroes are few… [a] wonderful book… [and] a joy to read

The Times, *Book of the Week*

Rooney’s previous book was also nonfiction, but The Big Hop reminded me of a John Buchan novel. Rooney has Buchan’s knack for acute imagery and for spare, compelling action scenes… There may be some risk of air sickness reading Rooney– but there is no danger of boredom

Observer

The Big Hop brings some unsung heroes to centre stage… recounted by Rooney with page-turning panache

Times Literary Supplement

The Big Hop is a glorious romp through an overlooked part of aviation history, stuffed full of intriguing characters and white-knuckle courage

Sunday Times, *Summer Reads of 2025*
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