Jump!
Inventions: Untold Stories of the Beautiful Era Collection
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Narrated by:
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Amy McFadden
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By:
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Daniel Engber
About this listen
In the first few years of the twentieth century, inventors discovered how to soar into the sky. This breathtaking true story is about two men who, on one fateful weekend, tried to show the world a way back down.
It was early February 1912, and Franz Reichelt, a Paris tailor, and Rodman Law, a self-described “professional jackass” from New York, were poised, respectively, on the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, ready to deploy an experimental parachute. In bat wings and bundled linen, they were almost certain their contraptions would work. Here is the tale of their inspirations and their pluck - and what happened next.
Jump! is part of Inventions: Untold Stories of the Beautiful Era, a collection of incredible true stories from the belle epoque, an age of innovation, daring, bluster, and beauty when anything seemed possible. Each piece can be read, listened to, and marveled at in a single sitting.
©2019 Daniel Engber (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Righteous Book, Righteous Narrator, Righteous MEN!
- By Gillian on 02-08-18
By: Tom Wolfe
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The Last Man On the Moon
- By: Eugene Cernan
- Narrated by: Eugene Cernan
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Abridged
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This is the story of a unique American hero who came of age as an astronaut during the few dramatic years when man reached the moon. Cernan's career spanned the entire Apollo program, from the tragic fire that killed three of his comrades on Apollo 1, through the moment when he left man's last footprint on the moon as commander of Apollo 17.
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Yet Another Perspective
- By Shellbin on 12-28-12
By: Eugene Cernan
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The Dervish House
- By: Ian McDonald
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 21 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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It begins with an explosion. Another day, another bus bomb. Everyone, it seems, is after a piece of Turkey. But the shockwaves from this random act of 21st century pandemic terrorism will ripple further and resonate louder than just Enginsoy Square. Welcome to the world of The Dervish House; the great, ancient, paradoxical city of Istanbul, divided like a human brain, in the great, ancient, equally paradoxical nation of Turkey. The year is 2027....
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Listen, but then read
- By Karen on 09-18-11
By: Ian McDonald
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Hawke: Three Black Ops
- Alex Hawke Series
- By: Ted Bell
- Narrated by: John Shea
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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This set includes Crash Dive, What Comes Around, and White Death, three Alex Hawke novellas never available before on audio. In Crash Dive, Alex Hawke is on a highly covert mission to enter another nation’s airspace undetected and find a way to avert a global war. In What Comes Around, two CIA officers are found dead. Hawke discovers that the victims are connected through one man: Spider Payne, a rogue intelligence officer. In White Death, M16 suspects a bizarre conspiracy when two bankers are found dead, and vast sums are plundered from the Queen of England’s accounts.
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Scam
- By Anonymous User on 10-10-18
By: Ted Bell
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The Wright Brothers
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: David McCullough
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize David McCullough tells the dramatic story behind the story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly: Wilbur and Orville Wright.
On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Wilbur and Orville Wright's Wright Flyer became the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard. The Age of Flight had begun. How did they do it? And why?
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Disappointing
- By Sara on 07-10-16
By: David McCullough
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Unbroken
- A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
- By: Laura Hillenbrand
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Why we think it’s a great listen: Seabiscuit was a runaway success, and Hillenbrand’s done it again with another true-life account about beating unbelievable odds. On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared....
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Indescribable
- By Janice on 12-01-10
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A Race to Freedom
- The Mira Slovak Story
- By: David Williams
- Narrated by: Brian Callanan
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Mira Slovak was born in Czechoslovakia and endured both the Nazi occupation and the brutal Russian liberation. He joined the Czech Air Force, rising to captain by the age of 21. When he could no longer tolerate life under the Communists, he hijacked an airliner and flew across the Iron Curtain to freedom. He outlasted communism, and when it collapsed in 1990, he returned to his home, only to realize his true home was and always would be the US.
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Free to live as an American.
- By cosmitron on 06-08-18
By: David Williams
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Blood and Ice
- By: Robert Masello
- Narrated by: Phil Gigante
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Journalist Michael Wilde - his world recently shattered by tragedy - hopes that a monthlong assignment to the South Pole will give him a new lease on life. There, in the most inhospitable place on earth, he is simply looking to find solace...until, on a routine dive in to the polar sea, he unexpectedly finds something else entirely: a young man and woman, bound with chains and sealed forever in a block of ice. Beside them is a chest filled with a strange, and sinister, cargo.
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I really enjoyed this book
- By Nicole on 04-24-16
By: Robert Masello
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Dead Man's Land
- By: Robert Ryan
- Narrated by: Richard Burnip
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Deep in the trenches of Flanders Fields, men are dying in the thousands every day. So one more death shouldn't be a surprise. But then a body turns up with bizarre injuries, and Sherlock Holmes' former sidekick, Dr. John Watson - unable to fight for his country due to injury but able to serve it through his medical expertise - finds his suspicions raised.
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Watson is wonderful, amid very grim surroundings
- By L. Gutman on 03-01-18
By: Robert Ryan
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Mission
- Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe
- By: Robert Matzen, Leonard Maltin - foreward
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In March 1941 Jimmy Stewart, America's boy next door and recent Academy Award winner, left fame and fortune behind and joined the United States Army Air Corps to fulfill his family mission and serve his country. He rose from private to colonel and participated in 20 often-brutal World War II combat missions over Germany and France. In mere months the war took away his boyish looks as he faced near-death experiences and the loss of men under his command. The war finally won, he returned home with millions of other veterans to face an uncertain future.
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SKIP THIS ONE
- By G-Man on 05-13-18
By: Robert Matzen, and others
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2113
- Stories Inspired by the Music of Rush
- By: John McFetridge - editor, Kevin J. Anderson - editor
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
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The music of Rush, one of the most successful bands in music history, is filled with fantastic stories, evocative images, thought-provoking futures and pasts. In this anthology, notable, best-selling, and award-winning writers each chose a Rush song as the spark for a new story, drawing inspiration from the visionary trio Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart.
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I'm a RUSH fan, but ...no..not this book
- By NBP on 07-15-17
By: John McFetridge - editor, and others
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Stormbreaker
- The First Alex Rider Adventure
- By: Anthony Horowitz
- Narrated by: Nathaniel Parker
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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They said his uncle Ian died in a car accident. Alex Rider knows that's a lie, and the bullet holes in his uncle's car confirm the truth. But nothing can prepare him for the news that the uncle he always thought he knew was really a spy for Britain's top-secret intelligence agency. Enlisted to find his uncle's killers and complete Ian's final mission, Alex suddenly finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse, with no way out.
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Okay action story held up by an great narrator
- By Mary Fan on 08-13-13
By: Anthony Horowitz
What listeners say about Jump!
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Andrew Darlow
- 11-05-22
Great overview of groundbreaking achievements
I really enjoyed these stories, which are nicely narrated w some music that is not overpowering. I felt like I was there w the people who risked life and limb.
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- Jesse
- 05-08-19
Fascinating glimpse into the start of parachuting!
Short read/listen but definitely interesting and worth your time. Not sure why the author picked the specific characters to focus on as it seems there were many others whose stories could also have been told. Nevertheless, as long as you don't expect a thorough review of the early days of parachuting you won't be disappointed with this book.
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- andrew
- 11-22-21
interesting but hard to follow
it was a very interesting topic and nice insight but it was hard to follow
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- EmilyK
- 05-16-19
Interesting comparison of two pioneers
I expected to like this more than I did but there are still several good parts. I found the narrator to be clear and easy to listen to. I did think the story of the two similar but different pioneers was quite interesting. Somehow it didn’t quite hang on together to me as a compelling listen. Even though it’s quite short, I had to force myself to get through it. But I was glad I did.
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- Admiralu
- 04-02-19
Jump they Do with Consequences
This was the fascinating story of two early century daredevils, testing early forms of parachutes in the turn of the century. One brave German jumping from the Eiffel Tower in France and an American jumping from buildings and planes in the US. While certain facts are known, the author takes poetic license with some of the imagined recollections. An entertaining read. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audiobook. Amy McFadden's narration was brilliant.
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- kevinf
- 05-22-19
Entertaining from a historical perspective
If you're into stories with historical context then this story fits the bill. Its almost like there's a couple of story lines here revolving around the invention of the first parachute. There's a man who keeps raising the financial bounty prize for the first successful parachute invention and this story relates to a couple inventors that tried.
I was a able to listen in one sitting with just over an hour to kill. History is kind of a hobby for me so I enjoyed listening to this. I know non fiction story lines are not everyone's cup of tea but this one peaks your curiosity when these guys actually "jump". Well Narrated.
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- Rellim
- 09-29-20
Enjoyable short
At just over an hour this short story is included as an Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited, or Audible Plus membership benefit. These make great lunch break (or while folding laundry) listens.
Obviously, this isn’t intended to be a comprehensive biography of either Reichelt or Law. Instead Engber uses newspapers, diaries, and interviews to share an interesting tale of two men who sought to keep gravity from ensuring death. Their motivations and personalities were quite different and the juxtaposition of their lives and time in history is compelling.
Note: While I listened to the audio, I also “read along” with the ebook. I highly recommend this as there are numerous photographs that add to the experience.
I’m a fan of Amy McFadden and she’s a great choice to narrate this story which is at turns humorous and poignant.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- RAB
- 04-09-19
Great story and very good narration.
This is probably my first Audible story. It's great listening to the narration and learning about the origin of the parachute.
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