The Imagined Empire: Balloon Enlightenments in Revolutionary Europe

by Mi Gyung Kim

The hot-air balloon, invented by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783, launched for the second time just days before the Treaty of Paris would end the American Revolutionary War. The ascent in Paris--a technological marvel witnessed by a diverse crowd that included Benjamin Franklin--highlighted celebrations of French military victory against Britain and ignited a balloon mania that swept across Europe at the end of the Enlightenment. This popular frenzy...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0822944650
• ISBN13: 9780822944652
• Release Date: November 2016
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Length: 472 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.4" x 9.1"