Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air
Lose yourself in the clouds with bestselling and prize-winning biographer and science writer Richard Holmes in this glorious history of hot-air ballooning.
Hot-air balloons have drifted through Richard Holmes’s work for many years. And now, in this heart-lifting book he tells the story of these ineffably romantic floating machines and the reckless invention of the adventurers who flew them.
His subject is flight itself and the pioneer generation of rival aviators. Ballooning offered a new vision of the earth. The world pondered for the first time reliable weather prediction, observation of the stars from an aerial point of view and the exploration of remote continents. Those in previous centuries who dreamt of flight believed it would open up the secrets of heaven. In fact, as Richard Holmes shows, it revealed the secrets of the world beneath.
Lose yourself in the clouds with bestselling and prize-winning biographer and science writer Richard Holmes in this glorious history of hot-air ballooning.
Hot-air balloons have drifted through Richard Holmes’s work for many years. And now, in this heart-lifting book he tells the story of these ineffably romantic floating machines and the reckless invention of the adventurers who flew them.
His subject is flight itself and the pioneer generation of rival aviators. Ballooning offered a new vision of the earth. The world pondered for the first time reliable weather prediction, observation of the stars from an aerial point of view and the exploration of remote continents. Those in previous centuries who dreamt of flight believed it would open up the secrets of heaven. In fact, as Richard Holmes shows, it revealed the secrets of the world beneath.
Fascinating account of the pioneering days of ballooning,
I would say that this is an ideal holiday read. It is not too technical and cram-backed with fascinating and eccentric characters. The stories are quite staggering with accounts of pioneers like Glaisher and Nadar offering alternative approaches to what could be achieved with a balloon. The colour illustrations are lavish but the whole book is also peppered with black and white illustrations. As well as balloonist, a host of other characters like Custer , Zeppelin and Victor Hugo crop up so that the book also takes on board the character of social history as well as looking at the more important and interesting journeys. Thankfully the book isn’t too heavy of technical detail and is by no means specialist. I would have liked to have learned a bit more about the evolution of airships but hopefully this is something that this author can turn his attention to in the future. All in all, this was a very interesting account of something about which I previously knew very little.
The Story of The Early Conquest Of The Sky,
From the first cross-channel success in 1785 to the first non-stop round the world flight in 1999, the author fills in the gaps. Ballooning from it’s advent and intent is now largely a leisure industry not withstanding the enthusiasts. The author states that this book is ‘not really about balloons at all. It is about what balloons gave rise to’. The spirit of adventure and the romanticism that authors and film-makers have developed is vivid as the dream-like description of the exhilaration of looking-down on the ground below. Not for my head for heights, but clearly popular.
A wonderful book, lavishly illustrated and a joy to possess and to read again and again.
Balloons – and human drama,
The ballooning tales described here include some of the first flights, altitude records, long distance travel, and the military use of balloons in the American Civil War.
I have never ballooned before but this book has made me want to enjoy that experience as soon as possible – but hopefully with much less drama than is recounted in these fascinating pages.