The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force is pleased to announce the next installment of its monthly Author Talk series, featuring author Becky Aikman. On Wednesday, September 10th at 11:00 a.m., Aikman will discuss her acclaimed book, Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II, at the museum. This event is free and open to the public, but registration is requested at https://forms.gle/162b4pq56sefadHE8. Attendees also have the option to join an after-event lunch, priced at $10/$12 (cash/credit) for members or $15/$17 (cash/credit) for non-members.
Spitfires tells the remarkable story of twenty-five young American women who became the first to command military aircraft during World War II. Originally denied the chance to fly for the U.S., these pioneering aviators traveled to Great Britain in 1942, where they ferried new and barely tested fighters and bombers to air bases, often returning with damaged aircraft. Facing one of the deadliest jobs of the war, these women risked their lives with courage and skill, making history both in the air and through their progressive behavior off duty.
Drawing from unpublished diaries, letters, official records, and firsthand interviews, Becky Aikman focuses on nine of these extraordinary women. Spitfires is a vivid, richly detailed account of ambition, danger, and the lives of women whose unconventional paths challenged both societal norms and the perils of war. Becky Aikman is the author of two works of narrative nonfiction: her memoir Saturday Night Widows and Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge. A former Newsday journalist, her work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and other national publications. She resides in New York.
