The wonder of flight has long captured the human imagination. In this beguiling history ? ranging from the first aircraft to astronauts and beyond ? David Darling tells the stories of the true life adventurers whose wonder has translated into bizarre contraptions, magnificent achievements and, sometimes, startling folly.

Discover outrageous attempts to fly like a bird and fall from the edge of space. Meet Napoleonic ballooniste Sophie Blanchard and her daredevil husband; the real ?X-Men? who flew the supersonic experimental ?X-planes? for the US Air Force; stuntman Lincoln Beachey, looping-the-loop in a pinstripe suit; and, of course, The Rocket Man himself: Yves Rossy, who in 2006 was the first person to cross the English Channel using a jet-pack.

Eccentric and reckless, Darling?s daring cast of dreamers is guaranteed to entertain and inspire.