Wonderful Balloon Ascents or The Conquest of the Skies by F. Marion is a history on balloons and Balloon Voyages published in 1870 at the height of the European balloon craze. The book is richly illustrated with copperplate picture depicting popular attempts to ascend that drew thousands of spectators. We have eyewitness reports from the first successful flight the by brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier in 1783. The book describes the entire history of ballooning from the first known ancient experiments to the technical ideas, safety concerns, navigation and the possible future of balloons used in warfare. Download the free PDF e-book here (11MB/248 pages):
Monthly Archives: May 2018
Travels in the Interior of Africa by Mungo Park
Travels in the Interior of Africa is the account of the explorer Mungo Park (1771-1806), a Scottish physician and doctor who dedicated his life to the mapping of Africa. During 1795 and 1796 he traveled through Gambia and Senegal and mapped the river Niger’s properties. The travel was highly dramatic and he experienced both diseases, assault, and imprisonment. Travels in the Interior of Africa was published in 1797 and the book gained popularity and was soon translated into several other languages. Mungo Park went back to Africa in 1803 when the African Association asked him to return to chart the full course of the Niger River this time. His wife, sensibly, didn’t want him to go, but the terms they offered him — five thousand pounds for expenses and a thousand pounds a year in salary – was too tempting. On that journey, Mungo Park died in a tragic drowning accident in 1806.
Download the free PDF e-book Travels in the Interior of Africa by Mungo Park here (377 pages/21MB):
Travels in the Interior of Africa by Mungo Park