Publisher's Synopsis
London, 1901. The city is preparing for a race like no other. Flying machines of all shapes and sizes will soon fill Hyde Park, and fourteen-year-old Oliver Winthorpe is desperate to join them.
When he finds an ancient book filled with mysterious sketches, his dream becomes perilously close to reality. But at what cost...Amongst all the chaos of Edwardian London is a young, frustrated, budding engineer who longs to invent. But his dentist father won't let him. Unbeknownst to Oliver, his family past, kept secret from him for so long, explains not only his inquisitive nature but his thirst for invention. And many more things besides. And when he breaks into a private section of his beloved library one night, in search of something he cannot explain, it will start a journey that will change not only his life, but those of generations to come. The first book in the Oliver Winthorpe series, the Race to Paris sees Oliver and his ragtag team of friends build a pioneering airship, learn incredible family secrets and fight through fire, financial ruin and betrayal to not only enter the race, but risk everything they have to win.
