{"product_id":"a-history-of-spy-ballooning-mark-fenemore-9783031851407","title":"A History of Spy Ballooning from 1783 to the Present: Military Reconnaissance, Espionage, and Propaganda","description":"\u003cp\u003eSpanning the technological innovations and improvements in balloon technology since its invention in 1783, this book explores the concept of 'spy ballooning' throughout multiple conflicts in modern history: the wars following the French revolution, the American Civil War, both World Wars, and the Cold War. The military and intelligence capabilities of balloons have a long and chequered history. From the 1790s, balloons have been used for military reconnaissance. The first bombing run using balloons came in Venice in 1849. Later, balloons were also used for espionage and propaganda. Like their British counterparts who undermined the Central Powers in the First World War, US cold warriors blanketed Eastern Europe with leaflets calling for liberation from communism. Visionaries have frequently recognized the military advantages that balloons can bring. But their cumbersome fragility has also repeatedly led to scepticism, on the part of commanders, as to their benefits. This book is the first to systematically analyse the use of spy balloons for military and intelligence purposes. It demonstrates the versatility and importance, but also the limitations and pitfalls, of this scopic technology, over time and up until the present. The author makes connections between balloon technology during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, touching on more recent events such as the 2023 Chinese spy balloon scare in the USA, and the collapse of Israel's border defences against Hamas.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Mark Fenemore\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 3031851404\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9783031851407\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Palgrave MacMillan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/13\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover","brand":"Mark Fenemore","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47579918401791,"sku":"9783031851407","price":159.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_309d89f1-d5e2-4a96-ae06-4a9d2e9bf4ce.jpg?v=1763877566","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-history-of-spy-ballooning-mark-fenemore-9783031851407","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}