Man Flies
The Story of Alberto Santos-Dumont - Master of the Ballon - Conqueror of the Air
Winters, Nancy
A masterpice of its own: The brilliantly, livingly story about the man Santos-Dumont and his breathtaking flying machines.
t was for Alberto Santos-Dumont, who could not check his pocket watch because he was using both hands to steer a balloon, that Louis Cartier, in 1901, created the first wristwatch.
The youngest son of a Brazilian millionaire, he grew up on an isolated coffee plantation devouring (and believing) the novels of Jules Verne. By the age of eighteen he was living in Paris, at the height of the Belle Epoque, heir to a huge fortune and determined to make his dreams of flying come true.
A renowned playboy, dining at Maxim's nightly and setting new styles in fashion, he at first frequently crashed his yellow silk airships into the trees of wealthy friends, such as the Rothschilds - who would send up Champagne lunches for him to enjoy during repairs. But soon he was winning prestigious prizes and being hailed as "the conqueror of the air".
Internationally acclaimed as the first man to fly, he was feted for several years in Europe and America (where he was received at the White House by Teddy Roosevelt) before learning that the Wright brothers, whose early efforts had been discounted, had actually preceded him.
Man Flies tells the tragic, glamorous story of his career, and later illness, and of how this brilliant, colourful and eccentric
pioneer slipped through the cracs of aviation history while his inventions and imagination continue to inspire it.
Cloth binding with original dustjacket
160 Seiten / pages
many rare illustrations
very good condition
Hopewell, NJ - 1997 - The Ecco Press
Art.Nr. 10116
