A New Narrative History
Those Who Know
The Sky
Hobey Baker · The Dawn of Aviation · The War to End All Wars
By Thomas F. Margiotti
About the Book
A Life Lived at the
Edge of the Possible
"He was the most perfect athlete America had ever produced — and the most tragic."
Hobey Baker — Princeton University's golden boy, America's first hockey superstar, and one of the most celebrated athletes of the early twentieth century. Then the war came.
Those Who Know the Sky traces Baker's extraordinary arc from the ice rinks and football fields to the mud-soaked aerodromes of wartime France, where he flew with the 141st Aero Squadron, and became an American icon. The only athlete inducted to both the football and ice hockey Halls of Fame. But what was the truth about his life and his mysterious death? Journey back to the early days of aviation, the Great War, and a truth more compelling than the legend.
Drawing on lost documents, newly discovered photographs, squadron diaries, and archival records from both sides of the Atlantic, this is the definitive account of a man who embodied an age — and was consumed by it.
Hobey Baker in France, 1918
About the Author
Thomas F. Margiotti
Thomas Margiotti is a former homicide prosecutor and forensics professor. His book focuses on the intersection of sport, war, and American identity in the early twentieth century. A graduate of Villanova University and Delaware Law School, he spent years researching Hobey Baker's life, searching historical records in France, England, Germany, and the United States.
His previous work has appeared in Over the Front magazine, and he is a professor at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Those Who Know the Sky is his first book.
"This was a book I never intended to write until it became a story that must be told."
Praise
"Long overdue, this thorough and meticulously researched account sets the historical record straight for an American icon. A top shelf addition to the chronicle of the founders of American military aviation."
— Michael J. O'Neal, Past President, League of World War I Aviation Historians
"Those Who Know the Sky reads like the best kind of literary journalism — authoritative and utterly alive."
"A beautifully written book about a fascinating time in history and a truly remarkable hero. A captivating page turner — engaging, uplifting, and inspiring. I loved it."
— Tim Whitehead, Former Head Coach, University of Maine; 2002 NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year
Those Who Know the Sky
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Those Who Know
the Sky
By Thomas F. Margiotti
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