Journalist William Langewiesche has built a career sharing with us the stories behind the stories — from ground zero to the outlaw seas. His most recent book, Fly by Wire, chronicles Captain "Sully" Sullenberger's January 2009 ditching of an Airbus in Hudson River. He focuses on the role that the plane's technology may have played in the remarkable water landing. But what is especially riveting are his stories of the accidents that did not end so well, and the pathos that most

—Chris Bohjalian