Summary: On land, Sophie Blanchard was a timid, anxious woman who could hardly stand the noise and commotion of 18th century Paris. But after her first flight in a hot-air balloon, she was hooked, and would spend the rest of her life chasing the peace and freedom she found hundreds of feet in the air. The first woman in the world to fly solo in a hot-air balloon, she became so famous for her skill and daring in the sky that even Napoleon took notice, and tried to recruit her for a particularly unusual military maneuver.<br> <br> Her death in 1819 shook the continent, but her life story has been revived by our guest, Sharon Wright, in her new book, Balloonomania Belles: Daredevil Divas who First Took to the Sky.
