Still aviation, with change of sex, change of time and a change of the
meaning of WASP. Amelia Earhart’s Daughters, by Leslie Haynsworth and David
Toomey, is the story of the women pilots of the US during the Second World War
and afterwards. Then, WASP meant Womens Airforce Service Pilots. Though never
militarised, women ferried planes, flew the biggest machines, including some
that men were wary of, and even became test pilots. After the war many of them
continued flying. Women were prevented from becoming space pilots only by an
edict of Eisenhower’s. A bit too detailed maybe, but interesting. Published by
William Morrow, $24, ISBN 0688152333.
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