THE FLIGHT OF JESSE LEROY BROWN

"A compelling portrait of a quiet hero, of the racial climate between 1926 and 1959, and of the last days of propeller-driven naval aviation." —Booklist

Jesse Leroy Brown was born in 1926 to sharecroppers in the segregated South.  An outstanding student and top athlete, he set his sights on becoming a Navy pilot despite the resistance of his family and the rampant Jim Crow laws.  Brown went on to become the first black man to fly a Navy fighter and make a carrier landing.  Based on archival documents and interviews with those who knew Brown, this is both a stirring story of a man breaking historic racial barriers and a thrilling tale of naval carrier aviation and combat.