Hitting the Books: A look at the 1920s airship that nearly made it to the North Pole

During the Roaring '20s just about everybody was convinced that dirigibles were not just the future of luxury travel but that these lumbering airships could also serve as platforms for scientific exploration and adventure. Why slog through malaria-infested jungles, parched deserts and frozen tundra when you could simply float an expedition to its destination? Among the technology's most fervent adherents were famed Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and Italian airship designer General Umberto Nobile. In 1928, Nobile attempted to lead the first expedition to land people at the North Pole aboard Airship Italia. However, a brutal storm forced the vessel to crash land, stranding its survivors with precious few provisions and setting off the largest arctic rescue effort in history. N-4 Down, by journalist and author Mark Piesing chronicles that rescue effort, led by Amundsen himself. In the excerpt below, we get a quick look at just what level of technological prowess the crew of the ill-fated expedition were actually dealing with.Harper Collins PublishersFrom N-4 Down by Mark Piesing. Copyright © 2021 by Mark Piesing. Reprinted by permission of Custom House, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.Amundsen may have dreamed of multiple air bases in the Arctic Circle, but in 1925 his was one of the only ones. It consisted of two flying boats, no hangars, and a rough runway made from ice.For the flight he had a team of six men who would be split between the two planes. Lincoln... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2021-09-18 15:30:21 UTC ]
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Rasmussen new Macmillan Children's Books m.d.

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 01/08/2011 - 15:54 Macmillan Children's Books has appointed current Carlton Publishing m.d. Belinda Rasmussen to the role of publisher. She will report directly to Pan Macmillan m.d. Anthony Forbes Watson, and will join the Pan Macmillan... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Mac buys third book from Orion's Wright

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 01/08/2011 - 14:32 Pan Macmillan has bought the third novel by Orion senior rights manager Pippa Wright, entitled The Foster Husband. Senior commissioning editor for fiction Jenny Geras acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Andrew Kidd... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rupert Murdoch's Disaster Is Already an E-Book

Vanity Fair gets a compilation into the Kindle and Nook stores: Twenty previously published stories for $4, heavy on the Michael Wolff. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book clubs in America: Why do we love them so much?

A casual observer of the book-club scene could be fooled into thinking that this summer was a hard one for the nation's leisure readers. Late in spring, Oprah's club shuttered, stranding publishers in what promises to be a long shoal of short print runs and offering the rest of us one literary... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Night confirms US launch

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 28/07/2011 - 15:19 World Book Night will launch in the US in 2012, with the States confirmed as the event's first international partner. HarperCollins vice president of independent retailing Carl Lennertz has been appointed as chief... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Irish authorities clear Amazon Book Depository acquisition

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 27/07/2011 - 07:40 The Irish Competition Authority has cleared the acquisition of The Book Depository by Amazon after a three-week investigation into the deal. In a short statement, the authority said: "[We have] formed the view that the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book depository #short statement #substantial lessening #25th september #relevant parties #confidential information #published version


Harper Lee tops World Book Night picks

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 27/07/2011 - 15:15 Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird has been voted the most popular title to be given away as part of World Book Night 2012. The organisation launched a public vote last month asking people to vote for the titles they... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #public vote #popular title #organisation launched #jane austen #markus zusak


Irish authorities clear Amazon Book Depository acquistion

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 27/07/2011 - 08:17 The Irish Competition Authority has cleared the acquisition of The Book Depository by Amazon after a three week investigation into the deal. In a short statement, the authority said: "[We have] formed the view that the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book depository #short statement #substantial lessening #25th september #relevant parties #confidential information #published version


Harper Lee tops World Book Night pick

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 27/07/2011 - 15:15 Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is the most popular title among the public to be given away as part of World Book Night 2012. The organisation launched a public vote last month asking people to vote for the titles they... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Telegraph ordered to pay damages over book review

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Tue, 26/07/2011 - 17:11 Telegraph Media Group has been ordered to pay £65,000 in damages after losing a high court case for libel and malicious falsehood over a Lynn Barber book review published in the Telegraph. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google Books Bows to New Apple App Store Rules

The Google Books iOS app is now in line with Apple's newly enforced rules that ban links bypassing Apple's own in-app purchase mechanism, which means Apple can retain its 30 percent cut. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Foyles continues kids book giveaway

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 25/07/2011 - 08:46 Foyles continues its free book giveaway today (25th July), offering five titles free to children and teen readers. The five Foyles London stores have been giving away the titles free over this weekend and today, the first... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books-A-Million in last-minute Borders bid

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Fri, 22/07/2011 - 09:32 Books-A-Million has bid for up to 35 US Borders stores in a last-minute offer to try and save part of the 40-year-old bookselling chain. The chain, which also runs stores under the names Books & Co., Bookland and Joe... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Blake signs Murdoch book

Written By: Neill Denny Publication Date: Thu, 21/07/2011 - 08:45 John Blake has signed a book by a journalist-turned-lawyer on the Rupert Murdoch story, for publication next February. Called The Rise and Fall of the Murdoch Empire the book will be written by John Lisners, who worked for... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Three Golden Rules for book reviewing: What are they?

Possibly the most famous book review, ever, was written by the young Irish wit and polemicist John Wilson Croker. Croker is still remembered, though obscurely, as a founder of modern political conservatism. What's more, according to some sources, John Wilson Croker invented the very term... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Murdoch Books signs Olivia Newton-John cookbook

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 21/07/2011 - 09:00 Murdoch Books has bought a healthy living cookbook from "Grease" star Olivia Newton-John. Managing director Christine Jones bought US, UK, Australian and New Zealand rights from Louise Georgeson. LivWise will be published in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HC hits digital Martin milestone

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 20/07/2011 - 14:45 HarperCollins sold more than 10,000 ebooks of George RR Martin's A Dance with Dragons last week, its biggest digital performance for a new release. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Borders is Toast, But Don't Blame E-Books

A physical bookstore closes, but it's not the fault of ebooks. Presented By: Get Ready for Tomorrow Today with Cisco The way the world consumes and shares data will dramatically change in the next five years. Is your network ready to handle the load? Friend and follow Cisco across the web as... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-Book Revolution Upends a Course

TRANSFORMEDFor some new releases, digital sales outpace print sales. The Columbia Publishing Course teaches the old and the new of the business. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Templar hits the right notes with Drummer Girl

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Wed, 13/07/2011 - 07:44 Templar Publishing has bought world English language rights to a "gritty yet glamorous tale of murder, romance and rock ‘n’ roll". Helen Boyle, commissioning fiction editor, bought the rights to Drummer Girl by Bridget... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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