Kirjahaku

Eleanora "Nell" Meier, a longtime civil servant, is suddenly suspended from her job because of an accusation about her loyalty. The source of the accusation and its contents are kept from her. In her yearlong fight to clear her name and prove her innocence against these unknown charges, she finds people who she thought were her friends are avoiding her, fearful of being contaminated by association with her. As she fights these charges in the Kafaesque world in which she finds herself, she is buoyed by her loyal North Carolina family and some friends who refuse to be cowed by the atmosphere of fear that grips the country. One of these is her boss with whom a romantic attachment grows during the course of the year. Although this is a work of fiction, it is based on events that did happen during the 1950s of the McCarthy period and the work of the House UnAmerican Committee. Events during this time loom in background as Nell fights for her dignity and her reinstatement.

Eleanora "Nell" Meier, a longtime civil servant, is suddenly suspended from her job because of an accusation about her loyalty. The source of the accusation and its contents are kept from her. In her yearlong fight to clear her name and prove her innocence against these unknown charges, she finds people, who she thought were her friends are avoiding her, fearful of being contaminated by association with her. As she fights these charges in the Kafaesque world in which she finds herself, she is buoyed by her loyal North Carolina family and some friends who refuse to be cowed by the atmosphere of fear that grips the country. One of these is her boss with whom a romantic attachment grows during the course of the year. Although this is a work of fiction, it is based on events that did happen during the 1950s of the McCarthy period and the work of the House UnAmerican Committee. Events during this time loom in background as Nell fights for her dignity and her reinstatement.

Before Amelia is the remarkable story of the world's women pioneer aviators who braved the skies during the early days of flight. While most books have only examined the women aviators of a single country, Eileen Lebow looks at an international spectrum of pilots and their influence on each other. The story begins with Raymonde de Laroche, a French woman who became the first licensed female pilot in 1909. De Laroche, Lydia Zvereva, Melli Beese, Hilda Hewlitt, Harriet Quimby, and the other women pilots profiled here rose above contemporary gender stereotypes and proved their ability to fly the temperamental heavier-than-air contraptions of the day. Lebow provides excellent descriptions of the dangers and challenges of early flight. Crashes and broken bones were common, and many of the pioneers lost their lives. But these women were adventurers at heart. In an era when women's professional options were severely limited and the mere sight of ladies wearing pants caused a sensation, these women succeeded as pilots, flight instructors, airplane designers, stunt performers, and promoters. This book fills a large void in the history of the first two decades of flight.