Eject! Eject!, John Nichol
Eject! Eject!, John Nichol
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
Club: $15.99

Eject! Eject!

Author: John Nichol

Narrator: Thomas Judd

Unabridged: 16 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/25/2023


Synopsis

'Eject! Eject!'
 
When the call is made to abandon an aircraft, it's only the beginning of the story...
 
From the Sunday Times bestselling writer John Nichol, author of Spitfire, Lancaster and Tornado, comes a brilliant new book that reveals the astonishing story of an invention that has saved many thousands of lives around the world, including his own: the ejection seat.
 
Nichol tells the remarkable tale of how the ejection seat was first conceived during the Second World War as countless lives were lost in accidents and in battle. In the wake of the war, that technological race to save aircrew lives using explosive seats continued at an incredible pace. Nichol tells the story of the brave men who risked their lives testing those early devices, and interviewed the first British pilot to eject back in 1949, when ejection, from pulling the handle to being under the parachute, took thirty seconds. Today, that figure is down to around one second.
 
Packed with interviews with aircrew who know exactly how it feels to ‘Bang Out’ from an aircraft at high speed, both in peace and in war, the book gives the reader a vivid sense of what that life-saving experience feels like, but also features the moving accounts of what happens next, from the viewpoint of both the crews and their families, who often have little or no information about whether or not their loved ones have survived.
 
Because ejecting is just the start of a journey…..
 
Packed with dramatic action, incredible science and moving recollections, Eject! Eject! is an essential read.

About John Nichol

John Nichol served in the Royal Air Force for fifteen years. On active duty during the first Gulf War in 1991, his Tornado bomber was shot down during a mission over Iraq. Captured, tortured and held as a prisoner of war, John was paraded on television, provoking worldwide condemnation and leaving one of the most enduring images of the conflict.  John is the bestselling co-author of Tornado Down and author of many highly acclaimed Second World War epics including Spitfire and Lancaster, both of which were Sunday Times bestsellers. He has made a number of TV documentaries with Second World War veterans, written for national newspapers and magazines, and is a widely quoted commentator on military affairs. 


Reviews

Goodreads review by Grant

You probably wouldn't think that a book about the development and use of the ejector seat would be interesting? Well John Nichol proves that it can be in this excellent read. He uses tales from the survivors of ejections in various different wars to add a personal side to what could have been quite a......more

Goodreads review by Kim

Excellent......more

Goodreads review by Jacques

John Nichol's Eject! Eject! is one of the best books I've read on aviation, alongside Dan Hampton's Viper Pilot. The book does a great job of exploring the development of the ejection seat, blending technical details with real-life accounts from those who have used this incredible device. These surv......more

Goodreads review by Dave

Tells the story of the ejector seat through the personal stories of those who used it, including the author. The scale of airforce deaths during training is so much higher than I ever would have believed. Although vastly lower than in the 1950s, the rate is still shocking. One of the pleasures of walk......more


Quotes

A fascinating history. Given his extraordinary personal experience, skills & knowledge, Eject! Eject! is clearly a book that Nichol and Nichol alone was destined to write. Five stars

'An absolutely brilliant, brilliant read. Fascinating history and enthralling stories. An absolute corker'

‘Catapults you into the heart of the most epic experiences of ejection, escape and survival’

 

'The story of the ejection seat’s birth and development revealed by John Nichol, is one of genius, bravery and baffling eccentricity, containing thrilling, gripping and dramatic stories of survival'

'Some of the stories are incredible, making for an action packed book'