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  • Eject! Eject!

  • By: John Nichol
  • Narrated by: Thomas Judd
  • Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (95 ratings)

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Eject! Eject!

By: John Nichol
Narrated by: Thomas Judd
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Summary

'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 listen.

©2023 John Nichol. All rights reserved. (P)2023 Simon & Schuster, UK. All Rights Reserved.
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Critic reviews

'An absolutely brilliant, brilliant read. Fascinating history and enthralling stories. An absolute corker' (Jeremy Vine)
‘Catapults you into the heart of the most epic experiences of ejection, escape and survival’

(Andy McNab)

What listeners say about Eject! Eject!

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a fascinating time line of life saving

the number of people saved by this ingenious invention is incredible. great research and well put together

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Took a little while to get in to it

After the first couple of chapters I wasn’t sure if I’d continue but then got you in it.

Great way of telling the history of the ejection seat through stories who used them. Be prepared to cringe as they explain the injuries pilots endured using these seats.

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Fantastic history of this life saving device.

Highly recommended book. Parts historical record, parts action adventure and parts emotional. Well written and researched and well narrated.
Who would have thought the history of the ejection seat could be so compelling and absorbing?

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Truly a remarkable story

John must have endless patience to research, investigate and travel to the four corners of the world and then to put the experience into interesting dialogue.
The book ticks all of the boxes.
Well done John.

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Blown away

Eject! Eject! tells the fascinating history of the ejection seat but also the harrowing experiences that some of the ejectees went through afterwards. A must listen for anyone interested in aviation or how people cope with trauma

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An absolute gem of a book

The author has done such an incredible job of writing this book. Plenty of facts about this incredible invention with amazing stories from around the world of survivors, families, and even those who were on the other side. Performed very well also, maybe a couple of mispronunciations, but this does not take away from how brilliant the book is

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Another great book by John Nichol

The author is really in his stride with this one. It’s both engaging and informative without being overly technical. The author could, given his experience, so easily have made this a personal memoir but chose to make the stories of other aircrew the main focus. The book finishes on a message we could all do with listening to and heeding.

Great stuff, John, I look forward to your next one!

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Well thought through - great losten

The author mixes the stories behind the developments with both uplifting and sad stories intertwined to provide a narrative of the development that is so much better than the two sides of the story separated.

Well done!

my only negative would be that it's 'leftenant' not 'lootenant' when talking about RAF officers... 8)

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Another fascinating, inciteful and informative book by John Nichol.

This book could easily have been a list of the milestones achieved and successes made in bringing the ejection seat to its current state, however John has yet again managed to educate the listener whilst at the same time tell the story of those brave and lucky fliers and engineers that designed, tested and were saved by this brilliant invention.
Another superb entertaining and educational book by a thoroughly accomplished author.

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Astonishing bravery of lifesaving pioneers

Rarely does audible history book leave you gasping open mouthed at the bravery of these pioneers but this book will do it another amazing book by JN still think back to his picture on front pages when he had to eject over iraq

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