Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air: An Unconventional

Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air: An Unconventional History of Ballooning

**Time Magazine 10 Top Nonfiction Books of 2013**
**The New Republic Best Books of 2013**
**Kirkus Best Books of the Year (2013)**

In a dazzling fusion of history, art, science, and biography, Falling Upwards resurrects the daring men and women who first risked their lives to take to the air in balloons.

Richard Holmes gives us another of his unforgettable portraits of human endeavor, recklessness, and vision, weaving together exhilarating accounts of early balloon rivalries, pioneering ascents over Victorian cities, and astonishing long-distance voyages. The terrifying high-altitude flights of James Glaisher helped to establish the science of meteorology as well as the notion of a fragile planet, while balloons were also used to observe the horrors of modern battle during the American Civil War. Here too are the many writersâ€”Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, Jules Verne, and moreâ€”who felt the imaginative impact of flight and allowed it to soar in their work. Holmes tells the history of ballooning from every angleâ€”scientific to poeticâ€”through the adventurers and entrepreneurs, scientists and escapists, heroes and fools who were possessed by the longing to be airborne.

(With 24 pages of color illustrations, and black-and-white illustrations throughout.)
Country USA
Brand Vintage
Manufacturer Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 9780307742322
Model 0307742326
Color Sky/Pale blue
ReleaseDate 2014-09-09
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780307742322

Country	USA
Brand	Vintage
Manufacturer	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	9780307742322
Model	0307742326
Color	Sky/Pale blue
ReleaseDate	2014-09-09
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780307742322

Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air: An Unconventional History of Ballooning

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