Thomas F. King, Randall Jacobson, Karen Ramey Burns, and Kenton Spading. 2004. Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved? Updated Edition. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, California.
What is it about Amelia Earhart? Okay, so, in 1937 some middling competent female pilot with an alcoholic male navigator on some hackneyed public relations ploy to fly around the world goes down in the Pacific Ocean. So what? Haven't there already been enough books on her to put the issue to rest at last?
Show's ya what I know. The 2004 updated edition of the original 2001 book by Thomas F. King, Randall S. Jacobson, Karen Ramey Burns, and Kenton Spading is a terrific addition to ongoing research on Earhart and Noonan's mysterious disappearance. Research by members of TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery) sifts through much of the available evidence, including six seasons of fieldwork on Nikumaroro and McKean Islands in the Phoenix Island Group, Republic of Kiribati, to suggest--but not prove--that Earhart and Noonan survived their plane crash only to die castaways on an uninhabited island.
Show's ya what I know. The 2004 updated edition of the original 2001 book by Thomas F. King, Randall S. Jacobson, Karen Ramey Burns, and Kenton Spading is a terrific addition to ongoing research on Earhart and Noonan's mysterious disappearance. Research by members of TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery) sifts through much of the available evidence, including six seasons of fieldwork on Nikumaroro and McKean Islands in the Phoenix Island Group, Republic of Kiribati, to suggest--but not prove--that Earhart and Noonan survived their plane crash only to die castaways on an uninhabited island.
The book investigates many of the myths and mysteries surrounding Earhart; Was she really incompetent? Was Noonan really an alcoholic? Were they spying for the US Government at the time of their disappearance? Is there any evidence for their capture by the Japanese? What is scaevola and why does TIGHAR hate it? and How do you pronounce Kiribati?
Written (mostly) in Tom King's typically curmudgeonly prose, this book is fascinating for biography and detective story lovers; and it could just as easily be used as an introductory text to archaeological methods. No one ever tells the beginning student that sometimes excavation poses more questions than it answers; or that sometimes tantalizing leads which turn out to be dead ends also turn out to lead in new, fruitful directions. Or, most painful lesson of all, sometimes you'll simply never know what really happened.
Written (mostly) in Tom King's typically curmudgeonly prose, this book is fascinating for biography and detective story lovers; and it could just as easily be used as an introductory text to archaeological methods. No one ever tells the beginning student that sometimes excavation poses more questions than it answers; or that sometimes tantalizing leads which turn out to be dead ends also turn out to lead in new, fruitful directions. Or, most painful lesson of all, sometimes you'll simply never know what really happened.
The epilogue to the 2004 updated edition of Amelia Earhart's Shoes describes the results of the 2001-2002 investigations on Nikumaroro Island, including excavations on Niku, study of post-loss radio communications (some of which were from Earhart and Noonan), and the input of new Earhart mystery devotees, people who stumbled on the TIGHAR website, became enchanted and could not let go. I can well understand their obsession.
The mystery of what happened to Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan is a maddening one, because, like most archaeological questions, the truth is just outside our reach, available only by time travel but hinted, if we're lucky, by the clink of a trowel.
If you're an archaeologist or a fan of archaeology, if you love a good mystery, if you want to know what historic archaeological research is really like, or if you're a secret fan of Amelia Earhart, get your hands on this book. You will surely not be disappointed.
The mystery of what happened to Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan is a maddening one, because, like most archaeological questions, the truth is just outside our reach, available only by time travel but hinted, if we're lucky, by the clink of a trowel.
If you're an archaeologist or a fan of archaeology, if you love a good mystery, if you want to know what historic archaeological research is really like, or if you're a secret fan of Amelia Earhart, get your hands on this book. You will surely not be disappointed.
