This is a reprint, in anticipation of the centenary of the first sustained powered flight, of a set first published on the fiftieth anniversary in 1953. Although expensive, the reprint is very much cheaper than copies of the original edition which rarely come on the market. The original was edited by Marvin MacFarland of the Library of Congress, under the sponsorship of Oberlin College. It contains a unique collection of family correspondence, selected articles, lectures and published papers and excerpts from 33 diaries and notebooks. More than three-quarters of the two volumes cover the period up to the end of 1910. The first volume covers the period from 1899, when the brothers first contacted Octave Chanute for information on how to build gliders, until 1905. Appendices in this volume contain details of the brothers' wind tunnel work and propeller tests. Also included is Octave Chanute's diary of 1896 and details of his trip to Paris in 1903, when he controversially gave a lecture that included details of the Wrights' gliding experiments. The second volume covers the period 1906 to the death of Orville in 1948 and contains appendices giving details of the gliders, aeroplanes and engines and a detailed bibliography of the brothers' writings. The only grumble with this edition is that it is printed on matt paper throughout and as a result the quality of the reproduction of the photographs suffers greatly. Books which complement this edition are The Miracle of Kittyhawk (1951) and Progress in Flying Machines by Octave Chanute reprinted in 1976.