Falling Upwards tells the story from the enigmatic groupof women and men who first risked their lives to take to the environment and sodiscovered a new dimension of human being experience. Why they achieved it, what theircontemporaries thought of them, and exactly how their flights revealed the secrets ofour planet in wholly unexpected ways can be its subject.

Dramatic sequences move from the first Anglo-French balloonrivalries, the crazy firework flights of beautiful Sophie Blanchard, therevelatory ascents more than the great about Falling Up-wards: HOW EXACTLY WE Took to the environment Victorian cities and sprawling industrialtowns of northern Europe, the amazing long-distance voyages from the Americanentrepreneur John Smart, as well as the French photographer Félix Nadar to theterrifying high-altitude flights of James Glaisher, FRS, who increased above sevenmiles without oxygen, helping to establish the new science of meteorology aswell as the environmental notion-so vital that you all of us today-of a “delicate”planet. Balloons were also used to observe the horrors of contemporary fight duringthe American Civil Battle, including a unforgettable air travel by General Custer.

Readers will quickly realize the many writers and dreamers-fromMary Shelley to Edgar Allan Poe, from Charles Dickens to Jules Verne-who feltthe imaginative influence of flight and allowed it all to soar within their function. Moreover, through the unusual allure of the fantastic balloonists, Holmes presents anotherof his subtle portraits of individual effort, recklessness, and eyesight.