The Man Who Touched the Sky by Johnny Acton, Hodder and Stoughton, £14.99, ISBN 0340819324 Reviewed by Roy Herbert
FLICK through this book to look at the illustrations, as many people might do, and you risk suffering a sudden sick feeling and a flash of vertigo. It shows the author as he steps out of a balloon 102,800 feet up.
When you get your breath back you might begin to read the book, only to find that it’s not about that astonishing leap, but about the early balloon flights in the 18th century. Not again! Montgolfier and his sheep…
