Taking to the Air

Book excerpt: The possibilities of flight have long fascinated us. Each innovation captivated a broad public, from those who gathered to witness winged medieval visionaries jumping from towers, to those who tuned in to watch the moon landings. Throughout history, the visibility of airborne objects from the ground has made for a spectacle of flight, with sizeable crowds gathering for eighteenth-century balloon launches and early twentieth-century air shows. Taking to the Air tells the history of flight through the eye of the spectator and, later, the passenger. Focusing on moments of great cultural impact, this book is a visual celebration of the wonder of flight, based on the large and diverse collection of print imagery held by the British Library. It is a study of how flight has been pictured through time.