AIRLIFT 1870
The Balloon and Pigeon Post in the Siege of Paris
$40.00
John Fisher
First English Edition
1965
Max Parrish [London]
8vo (166 pages, 12 illustrations map, appendices, bibliography, index)
Hardcover (with Dust Jacket) [Black cloth]
17th-19th Centuries
The Military Bookman at Chartwell Booksellers
5161
A rare account of a particularly bizarre aspect of 19th century warfare. During the siege of Paris by Prussian forces from 1870 to 1871, what was a hobby became the only means by which the capital could maintain communication with the world beyond its walls. Balloonists carried passengers over the heads of Bismarck's army and with them the carrier pigeons that would provide the only access to information other than Prussian propaganda within the city limits.
A very good copy, in slightly soiled, mylar-covered dust jacket with light edge wear and slightly faded spine, binding sound and contents clean save for a small mark on front paste down.
