Falling Upwards: Inspiration for the Major Motion Picture The Aeronauts

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING FELICITY JONES AND EDDIE REDMAYNE

A GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A NEW STATESMAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A DAILY TELEGRAPH BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A NEW REPUBLIC BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A TIME MAGAZINE TOP 10 NONFICTION BOOK OF 2013

From ambitious scientists rising above the clouds to analyse the air to war generals floating across enemy lines, Richard Holmes takes to the air in this heart-lifting history of pioneer balloonists.

Falling Upwards asks why they risked their lives, and how their flights revealed the secrets of our planet. The stories range from early ballooning rivals to the long-distance voyages of American entrepreneurs; from the legendary balloon escape from the Prussian siege of Paris to dauntless James Glaisher, who in the 1860s flew seven miles above the earth – without oxygen.

Falling Upwards has inspired the Major Motion Picture The Aeronauts – in cinemas SOON.

• NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING EDDIE REDMAYNE AND FELICITY JONES, RELEASING IN CINEMAS ON 6 NOVEMBER 2019

• Richard Holmes is one of the best non-fiction writers at work today. In peerless prose, this book takes the reader into unexpected realms of science, discovery and adventure.

• One of the best reviewed books of 2013

• Published to huge acclaim in the US

• INCLUDES THRILLING CHAPTER ON JAMES GLAISHER AND HIS ASCENT TO THE EDGE OF SPACE IN A BALLOON – STORY OF THE FILM

Competition: Age of Wonder; Lunar Men; The Invention of Nature; Chasing Venus; Seeing Further. Jenny Uglow; Andrea Wulf; Lisa Jardine; Bill Bryson; John Gribbin; Basil Mahon; Sarah Bakewell; Stephen Rutt