Chuck Yeager

General Chuck Yeager, the greatest test pilot of them all -- the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound . . .the World War II flying ace who shot down a Messerschmitt jet with a prop-driven P-51 Mustang . . .the hero who defined a certain quality that all hotshot fly-boys of the postwar era aimed to achieve: the right stuff. Now Chuck Yeager tells his whole incredible life story with the same "wide-open, full throttle" approach that has marked his astonishing career. What it was really like enaging in do-or-die dogfights over Nazi Europe. How after being shot over occupied France, Yeager somehow managed to escape. The amazing behind-the-scenes story of smashing the sound barrier despite cracked ribs from a riding accident days before. The entire story is here, in Yeager's own words, and in wondeful insights from his wife and those friends and colleagues who have known him best. It is the personal and public story of a man who settled for nothing less than excellence, a one-of-a-kind portrait of a true American hero.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Roam the world with General Chuck Yeager and discover adventures that exemplify his special brand of living--full out and straight ahead "Fun and exhilarating."--The Wall Street Journal General Chuck Yeager has always been a restless adventurer, from flying daredevil combat missions over Nazi Germany and shattering records as a test pilot to his annual trip into California's rugged sierras. Press On brings you around the world with Yeager: from a close brush with death in a remote corner of New Zealand to backpacking at 14,000 feet in the high sierras and flycasting in Scotland to deer hunting in Texas and catching a 267-pound Alaskan halibut--on a forty-pound test line And you'll travel back with him to his roots among the rough-hewn, honest mountain folk of West Virginia and the remarkable people and experiences that influenced him. Here is life as only Chuck Yeager can live it, with anecdotes and insights from his best friends, flying buddies, family, and his wife of more than forty years. Here is the real Chuck Yeager, a man who still lives life on the edge, facing new challenges and risks with an indefatigable spirit of adventure that can be summed up in one simple phrase: Press on