Racing The Wind: A History of Manned Balloon Flight
Self-published by the author (me) Howard M Beck
Available now as a download for Kindle Devices
Amazon ASIN: B018MJ16AS
Language: English

FLIGHT has been the ultimate expression of liberty since the dawning of time, the dream of inquisitive earth-bound minds capable of free thought. From the first balloon ascent to that amazing moment when Yoyager 1 became the first man-made object to leave our Solar System was a mere 230 years. In between lay aero-space developments beyond the wildest imagination. That all this began with a paper bag full of hot air is quite astonishing.

Now, for the first time, Racing The Wind: A History of Manned Balloon Flight embraces the whole manned ballooning story. From Montgolfiére to that romantic Verne-esc dream to float non-stop around the world, we learn how those with vision and sufficient bravado made tentative probings into the physics of flight. Read contemporary eyewitness accounts of the 19th century showmen and women who entertained a thrill-seeking public, and how those ever-more audacious acts of daring in more recent times inspired wacky flights too outrageous for words.

Discover how the nation that bequeathed flight to the world also became first to employ balloons as weapons of aggression and later, as the Cold War warmed up between East and West, balloonists contributed to a pre-space race to the stratosphere. Read of the joy, the disappointment, elation and disasters involving madcap bids to reach the poles and cross the greatest mountain ranges and oceans. It’s all here in one information-packed volume.