Balloonomania Belles

Balloonomania Belles PDF Author: Sharon Wright
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1526708361
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
Award-winning journalist Sharon Wright presents a fascinating account of the fabulous eighteenth and nineteenth-century female pioneers of balloon flight. More than a century before the first airplane took flight, women were heading for the heavens in crazy, inspired contraptions that brought both danger and glory. Women were in the vanguard of the “Balloonomania” craze that took hold in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, sweeping across Europe and then the world. Their exploits were a vital element of our first voyages into the sky. In a time when women’s lives were often severely limited by law and convention, these intrepid pioneers took on an exhilarating quest for spectacle, adventure, and danger. From the perilous ascent in 1784 by feisty French teenager Elisabeth Thible, female aeronauts have never looked back . . . or down. But who were these brave women who fearlessly—and scandalously—took to the air? In Balloonomania Belles, journalist Sharon Wright reveals the hair-raising adventures of the first flying women in a book that celebrates the brightest stars of an extraordinary era in human achievement.

Balloonomania Belles

Balloonomania Belles PDF Author: Sharon Wright
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1526708361
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Get Book Here

Book Description
Award-winning journalist Sharon Wright presents a fascinating account of the fabulous eighteenth and nineteenth-century female pioneers of balloon flight. More than a century before the first airplane took flight, women were heading for the heavens in crazy, inspired contraptions that brought both danger and glory. Women were in the vanguard of the “Balloonomania” craze that took hold in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, sweeping across Europe and then the world. Their exploits were a vital element of our first voyages into the sky. In a time when women’s lives were often severely limited by law and convention, these intrepid pioneers took on an exhilarating quest for spectacle, adventure, and danger. From the perilous ascent in 1784 by feisty French teenager Elisabeth Thible, female aeronauts have never looked back . . . or down. But who were these brave women who fearlessly—and scandalously—took to the air? In Balloonomania Belles, journalist Sharon Wright reveals the hair-raising adventures of the first flying women in a book that celebrates the brightest stars of an extraordinary era in human achievement.

The Lost History of the Lady Aeronauts

The Lost History of the Lady Aeronauts PDF Author: Sharon Wright
Publisher: Pen and Sword History
ISBN: 1399005391
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
“A simply brilliant history that rescues from undeserved obscurity a roster of pioneering women in the very beginning of the age of aviation.” —Midwest Book Review From have-a-go Georgians to emancipated Edwardians, the lady aeronauts were actresses, writers, heiresses, scientists, engineers, explorers, showgirls and suffragettes. These unsung trailblazers for female freedom enjoyed lives shot through with sheer courage and joie de vivre. Yet they were all but forgotten. Hold on tight for a white-knuckle balloon ride through their remarkable real-life stories . . . “You couldn’t want for a better antidote to pinkness than these tales of girls and women unleashing their pluck and inventiveness in the unregulated age of balloonomania . . . This is history at its most satisfying.” —Damesnet “Sharon Wright tells a fabulous tale, and has uncovered some terrific stories of long forgotten heroines of the air. Some stories are comic, many are tragic, many are a bit of both, and she tells it brilliantly.” —Bristol Post “History has never been so much fun!” —What’sHerName Podcast

Lady Icarus: Balloonomania and the Brief, Bold Life of Sophie Blanchard

Lady Icarus: Balloonomania and the Brief, Bold Life of Sophie Blanchard PDF Author: Deborah Noyes
Publisher: Random House Studio
ISBN: 0593122054
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
A riveting middle-grade biography about Sophie Blanchard, the first woman to work as a professional aeronaut in France in the late 1700s, set against the thrilling backdrop of early flight. Before Amelia Earhart, there was Sophie Blanchard, the first woman to earn her living in the air. While no one knows the fate of Earhart, a terrified crowd of thousands looked on as French aeronaut Sophie Blanchard met her end in a tragic blaze of glory over the streets of Paris in 1819. But first, Blanchard made nearly 70 spectacular flights, survived a revolution, and become a court favorite of the emperor Napoleon (who gave her the title, "Aeronaut of the Official Festivals") and later of the King of France. Set against the backdrop of the history of flight, watch as Balloonmania-- a phenomenon that riveted all of Europe-- took hold and inspired a great many artists authors, and dreamers. This lively scrapbook-style biography with more than fifty black-and-white photos throughout, introduces a frightened, nervous girl who became a fearless legend in the skies.

A Leap from the Clouds

A Leap from the Clouds PDF Author: Jerry Kuntz
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476647429
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
In the late nineteenth century, circus aerialists collaborated with show balloonists to perform death-defying stunts, initially by suspending themselves from trapeze bars beneath a balloon, later by jumping from the balloons using fabric parachutes. By the 1890s, these performances became a worldwide craze, remaining in rural fairs and fetes for decades. Many of the original balloon-parachute pioneers went on to play key roles in the creation of airships, test flying the first gliders and airplanes. Based on extensive historical research, this unusual account explores how a nineteenth-century daredevil act united with the desire to achieve human flight. These performers' contributions did not come without a price: dozens, if not hundreds, of people died in horrifying events witnessed by thousands of spectators. This book chronicles the act that had no practical purpose other than entertainment, which eventually evolved into the development of the free-fall parachute pack--a key aviation need--and the foundation of a new activity known as skydiving.

Skybound!

Skybound! PDF Author: Sue Ganz-Schmitt
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
ISBN: 163592815X
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
In this STEAM picture book, take to the skies with Mary Myers, aka “Carlotta,” an aeronaut and inventor whose careful scientific work improved balloons and our understanding of flight, weather patterns, and the atmosphere. In the 1850s, proper young ladies were supposed to keep their feet on the ground (literally and metaphorically), but Mary dreamed of flying. Luckily, she married Carl Myers, a balloon enthusiast whose dreams were just as lofty as hers. Together, they designed and constructed balloons of all shapes and sizes, a difficult and dangerous job that required knowledge of chemistry, engineering, and meteorology. But how could they know which balloon designs worked best? They needed someone adventurous who could do balloon tricks for crowds while recording flight data. Mary knew just the person . . . herself! She gave herself the stage name Carlotta and anxiously awaited her first flight. Would she make it into the air? Could she collect the data they needed? Mary battled thick clouds and bone-chilling cold, but she went higher and farther than she hoped, and returned ready for her next flight.

Romantics and the Era of Early Flight

Romantics and the Era of Early Flight PDF Author: John Gilroy
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031187725
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
This book explores the significance of flight to Romantic literature. Although the Romantic movement and the age of ballooning coincided, there has been a curious and long-time tendency to forget that flight was not impossible during this period. This study details the importance of this new technology to Romantic authors, primarily English Romantic poets. It combines accounts of the exploits and experiences of early balloonists with references to Romantic texts, using ballooning lore to illuminate a range of Romantic writings. The balloonists are seen as not just supplying these writers with a new code of metaphors, but as colleagues engaged in similarly imaginative enterprises. The book uncovers an ‘aerial imagination’ shared by a large number of writers in the Romantic period that has its origins in the balloon adventures of the 1780s and following two decades. It will appeal to scholars and students of Romantic cultural history, as well as those interested in Romantic poetry and the history of early aeronautics.

Magnificent Women and Flying Machines

Magnificent Women and Flying Machines PDF Author: Sally Smith
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750999195
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
'Lively history of British women aviators.' Daily Mail 'Compelling stories of female pioneers whose soaring ambition achieved firsts in the field of aviation.' Britain Magazine 'This lovely book offers a welcome and enjoyable read and provides a timely testament for these unsung pioneers of aviation.' Maggie Appleton MBE, Chief Executive Officer, RAF Museum 'A real celebration of the women who defied tradition and followed their dreams into the sky. Readable and entertaining, this book is a worthy tribute to Britain's woman aviation pioneers.' Sharon Nicholson FRAeS, Chairwoman of the British Women Pilots' Association Just eighteen months after two Frenchmen made the world's first ever flight, a fearless British woman hopped into a flimsy balloon and flew across the London sky for nearly an hour. Since then, many other remarkable British women have decided to defy traditional society and follow their dreams to get into the sky. For the first time, Magnificent Women and Flying Machines tells the stories of the pioneers who achieved real firsts in various forms of aviation: in ballooning, parachuting, gliding, airships and fixed-wing flight – right up to a trip to the International Space Station! Full of entertaining adventure, here at last is a proper record of Britain's wonderful women of the air.

Balloonomania Belles

Balloonomania Belles PDF Author: Sharon Wright
Publisher: Pen and Sword History
ISBN: 9781526708342
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"[This book] reveals the show stopping stories of the female pioneers of balloon flight. More than a century before the first aeroplane women were heading for the heavens in crazy, inspired contraptions that could bring death or glory and all too often, both. Women were in the vanguard of the 'Balloonomania' craze that took hold in the eighteenth and nneteenth centuries and swept across Europe then the world. Their exploits were a vital element of our first voyages into the sky. When women endured second-class status on the ground they managed to join the thrilling human quest for spectacle and discovery among the clouds. From the first perilous ascents in the 1780s, women never looked back ... or down. For 125 years they enjoyed a series of comic, tragic and heroic adventures. They were actresses, writers, heiresses, scientists, explorers, showgirls and suffragettes in the glorious golden age of ballooning - before war clouds and aeroplanes changed the skies forever. Who were these women who took to the sky when it was such an incredibly dangerous and scandalous thing to do?"--Book jacket.

Mother of the Brontës

Mother of the Brontës PDF Author: Sharon Wright
Publisher: Pen and Sword History
ISBN: 1399018825
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
The groundbreaking biography of Maria Branwell reveals a remarkable woman who has been lost in the shadows of her gifted children, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë. The witty, clever and intrepid Cornish lady of letters, lover of Patrick and mother of genius has been missing for too long. The extraordinary Brontës were a family like no other and it all began when Maria met Patrick.

Jane Austen

Jane Austen PDF Author: Claire Tomalin
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307426467
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
At her death in 1817, Jane Austen left the world six of the most beloved novels written in English—but her shortsighted family destroyed the bulk of her letters; and if she kept any diaries, they did not survive her. Now acclaimed biographer Claire Tomalin, author of A Life of My Own, has filled the gaps in the record, creating a remarkably fresh and convincing portrait of the woman and the writer. While most Austen biographers have accepted the assertion of Jane's brother Henry that "My dear Sister's life was not a life of events," Tomalin shows that, on the contrary, Austen's brief life was fraught with upheaval. Tomalin provides detailed and absorbing accounts of Austen's ill-fated love for a young Irishman, her frequent travels and extended visits to London, her close friendship with a worldly cousin whose French husband met his death on the guillotine, her brothers' naval service in the Napoleonic wars and in the colonies, and thus shatters the myth of Jane Austen as a sheltered and homebound spinster whose knowledge of the world was limited to the view from a Hampshire village.