Book review: balloon madness: flights of imagination in Britain, 1783-1786 by Clare Brant

In Balloon Madness: Flights of Imagination in Britain, 1783-1786, Clare Brant explores the booming popularity of the hot air balloon in Britain following the launch of a technology that made possible the dream of human flight. Full of lively personalities and striking anecdotes drawn from Brant’s thorough archival research, this book is a fascinating and comprehensive account of the impact of ‘balloonomania’ on British print and visual culture, writes Jason Pearl.