A Brief History of Flight : From Balloons to Mach 3 and Beyond

This is the soaring chronicle of how man conquered the skies.

Even in these days of frequent flying, the idea of flight still holds a special fascination in our minds.

Now, acclaimed aviation writer T. A. Heppenheimer captures the essence of that eternal obsession with a thrilling narrative that carries readers from the dawn of flight to modern day travel.

Along the way, readers will meet a host of colorful characters - brilliant innovators Howard Hughes and Bill Lear, "Red Baron" Manfred von Richthofen, and Jimmy Doolittle; plane builders Donald Douglas, William Allan, and Jack Northrup; entrepreneur Juan Trippe of Pan Am; and today's inventors Paul MacCready and Burt and Richard Rutan.

No one who has ever been moved by the sight of a rising balloon, or watched in awe as a jumbo jet gracefully lifts off the tarmac will be able to resist this wonderful history of mankind's adventures in the air.

T.A. Heppenheimer (Fountain Valley, California), has written six books, including "Countdown: A History of Space Flight" and "Turbulent Skies: The History of Commercial Aviation". He holds a PhD in aerospace engineering and is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace.