At the dawn of the twentieth century, a small but determined band of barrel jumpers risked their lives in one of the world’s most wondrous waterfalls. Only a few survived.
By turns a family drama and an action-adventure story, The Age of Daredevils chronicles the lives of the men and women who devoted themselves to the extraordinary sport of jumping over Niagara Falls in a barrel―a death-defying gamble that proved a powerful temptation to a hardy few.
Internationally known in the 1920s and ’30s for their barrel-jumping exploits, the Hills were a father-son team of daredevils who also rescued dozens of misguided thrill seekers and accident victims who followed them into the river. The publicity surrounding the Hills’ spectacular feats ushered in tourism, making Niagara Falls the nation’s foremost honeymoon destination, but ultimately set Red Hill Jr. on a perilous path to surpass his father’s extraordinary leaps into the void.
Like the works of Jon Krakauer and David McCullough, The Age of Daredevils explores the primal force of fear and the thirst for adventure that drive humans to the brink of death to see if they can somehow escape.
Fascinating book fraught with flaws, poorly written Five stars for the astonishing history of people trying to go over Niagara Falls in various barrels, rubber balls and inflated inner tubes. Some made it, some did not. I never knew the first person to do it successfully was a woman in 1901, which is amazing for that time. Well, for any time. The descriptions of the preparations, trying to avoid police, and the actual event are well done and amazing. A great amount of research was done by the author, which is commendable.Â
~~The Rumble~~ Based on interviews and newspaper articles, the author did his research for his book. The first person over the falls was Annie Edson Taylor and, yes, she was a female (year was 1901). The story within the story is that of the Hill family and their dedication to rescuing survivors and unfortunately picking up those that did not make it. Will one of the members of the family attempt a trip over the falls? Hearing the rumble of the falls draws the daredevils closer.Â
One of North America’s greatest treasures and the family that dominated its history for five decades I was middle-aged when I saw Niagara Falls. I was anxious to get to Toronto and completely disinterested in the Falls. I’d seen a million pictures and films of it. Big deal. When I caught my first glimpse of the Falls themselves, I was as awe-struck and mesmerized as everyone must be when they look at it. Reduced to a shadow of its former majesty by the construction of hydro-electric dams and surrounded by cheesy, dated tourist traps, it’s still a magnificent, awe-inspiring sight…