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):
