sevelt suddenly declared that the contractsrnto carry the mail issued by the previousrnadministration were null and void:rnThe Army would deliver the mail. Sixrnpilots died within a week of Roosevelt’srnedict, and eight planes were lost at a costrnof over $300,000. Airmail service wasrnhalted, yet the President would not relent:rnHe was determined to destroy therncommercial airlines, and the fledglingrnaviation industry was thrown into chaos.rnAmong the hardest hit was TransworldrnAirlines, whose most famous employeernwas mobilized to lead the counter-attackrnbefore a congressional committee. Lindbergh’srnappearance before the committeerncaused a sensahon, eaming him thernenmity of the New Dealers, who accusedrnhim of “profiteering” and launched anrninvestigation of his financial interest inrnthe aviation industry. Forced by popularrnopinion to relent, the President’s partisansrnnever forgot nor forgave—and neitherrndid Lindbergh.rnThe grotesquely tragic episode of hisrnson’s kidnapping and the subsequentrntrial of Bruno Hauptmann is bestrnsummarized in Berg’s chapter tide, “CircusrnMaximus.” In order to prevent hisrnlife and that of his family from becomingrna perpetual circus, Lindbergh was forcedrninto exile. As he put it: “Between thernpolitician, the tabloid press, and therncriminal, a condition exists which is intolerablernto us.” Berg reports that GovernorrnHoffman of New Jersey was consideringrnclemency for Hauptmann “forrnpolitical gain”—but fails to tell us howrnany politician could hope to make politicalrncapital out of pardoning the perpetratorrnof the crime of the century. Berg’srngeneral ineptitude at providing historicalrncontext is a major flaw in a book otherwisernfilled to the brim with irrelevant details.rnFor instance, on page 48, in the midstrnof a long section about the Lone Eagle’srnyouth, the United States is suddenly onrnthe brink of war with the Kaiser, and oldrnC.A. Lindbergh is denouncing the MoneyrnTrust—”his constant bugaboo”—onrnthe floor of Congress. Airily dismissingrnC.A. as “a crank” who slid “into politicalrnignominy,” Berg goes on to point outrnthat Lindbergh perernargued that it was not right to sendrnpoor farmboys off to war in Europernso that others might profit. “Therntrouble with war is that it kills offrnthe best men a country has,” C.A.rnused to say.rnSome crank! C.A.’s complaint that “It isrnimpossible according to the big press tornbe a true American unless you are pro-rnBritish” is a sentiment his son wouldrncome to appreciate 20 years later, as Bergrnnotes. But if the father’s critique wasrncrankish, the views of his son—thoughrnnot identical in every detail—were similarrnenough to qualify him for the samernsort of ignominy. Yet Berg presentsrnLindbergh’s crusade (on behalf of thernAmerica First Committee) to keep thernUnited States out of World War II in a favorablernlight, a first for any Lindbergh biographer.rnLindbergh’s wanderlust, a cause ofrnmuch grief to his wife, was a source forrnhim of the most profound joy: He crisscrossedrncontinents the way other peoplerncrossed the street, his gaze fixed on thernnext great adventure. Yet the eagle builtrnnests from Hawaii to Europe; he wasrnconstantly building houses and tookrngreat pleasure in their construction, directing,rnplanning, making specificationsrndown to the last detail. Of all hisrndwellings, his favorite was Illiec, on an islandrnoff the rocky coast of Brittany. Bergrndescribes it as “the most stimulating confluencernof earth, water, and sky Lindberghrnhad ever seen.” The island was arntowering granite rock rising out of the searn”like a boat in a storm,” as Lindberghrnwrote in his diary. Illiec clung to “thisrnbizarre natural granite sculpture” likernsome shelled sea creature—a three-storyrnmanor house in the Breton style, made ofrnstone with a slate roof Complete withrntwo conical towers and a chapel, bothrnthe structure and its setting strongly resemblernthe abode of a less famous butrneven more acerbic critic of U.S. interventionrnin World War II: Tor House, thernstone towers on the Big Sur coast built byrnthe poet Robinson Jeffers on a rock juttingrnhigh above that wild water. In hisrnsplendid isolation, Jeffers thunderedrnagainst FDRrnAnd his paid mouths; and thernradio-shouters, the writers, thernworld-planners, the heavy bishops.rnThe England-lovers, the little poetsrnand college professors.rnThe seducers of boys,rnwho were dragging us down the road tornwar. Both Jeffers and Lindbergh werernnot only isolationists before the war, theyrnwere unrepentant after it. In 1944, Jeffersrnobserved thatrnWe have now won two world-wars,rnneither of which concerned us,rnwe were slipped in. We havernlevelled the powersrnOf Europe, that were the powers ofrnthe world, into rubble and dependence.rnWe have won twornwars and a third is coming.rnLindbergh agreed, reiterating yearsrnlater that American entry into the warrnhad simply paved the way for Stalin’srnconquest of half of Europe. For Lindbergh,rnthe absorption of the Europeanrncontinent by the Asiatic Stalin was thernreal danger to be fought at all costs, butrnJeffers’ Olympian detachment reachedrneven greater heights than Lindbergh’s:rnThe process was natural, inevitable, evenrnbeautiful in the sheer scale of therntragedy. Europe was “a whittled forepeakrnof profuse Asia, which presentiy willrnabsorb it again,” and in any case: “It is arnfoolish business to see the future andrnscreech at it. / One should watch and notrnspeak.”rnYet Lindbergh could not remainrnsilent. Unlike Jeffers the recluse, whosernactivism was limited to the poetic, Lindberghrnwas the classic man of actionrnwhose determination to preserve his privacyrndid not preclude taking to the hustingsrnon behalf of a cause. Berg’s accountrnof the origin and development ofrnthe America First Committee, in whichrnLindbergh played a leading role, is exemplary:rnInstead of being treated to thernusual maelstrom of malice, the AFC’srncritique of interventionism —that itrnwould Sovietize half of Europe and all ofrnAmerica —is soberly presented. Lindberghrnis cause for celebration, if only becauserna work presenting a fairly detailedrnaccount of the history of the Old Right,rnrefuting decades of ill-informed propagandarnand smears, has rocketed to therntop of the bestseller lists. Berg evenrnbreaks new ground by citing a secret FBIrnreport on America First that noted arn”tremendous Jewish group” funnelingrnmoney to the movement via thernGuggenheim Foundation.rnOn the subject of Lindbergh’s infamousrnDes Moines speech. Berg is sympatheticrnbut still mindful that certainrnassumptions cannot be challenged.rnLindbergh asked, “Who Are the War Agitators?”rnand his answer was simple, direct,rnand incontrovertible:rnMARCH 1999/29rnrnrn