Niagara Daredevils: Thrills and Spills over Niagara Falls
by Cheryl MacDonald
$7.95 US, $9.95 CDN
115 pages
Altitude Publishing
It is surprising the number of books out there that are about Niagara Falls (I have another posting where I will list a bunch of them). One that I received for review was Niagara Daredevils: Thrills and Spills over Niagara Falls from Altitude Publishing. This is the same company that released “Niagara Falls” by Darwin Wiggett (which I reviewed previously).
Cheryl McDonald has done a nice job of including the basic stories of many of the famous daredevils (Blondin, Red Hill, Farini, Annie Tayler, etc). Most of what you read is probably what you have heard before. There does not seem to be any “new” information about any of the people or events. However, I don’t think that is the purpose of the book. It is meant to be a quick introduction, and it does its job well.
The book is divided into chapters that cover similar types of daredevils:
- Prologue
- Chapter 1 Swimmers and Jumpers
- Chapter 2 The Funambulists
- Chapter 3 Boats, Barrels, and Rafts
- Chapter 4 Accidental Daredevils
- Chapter 5 Over the Falls
- Chapter 6 Modern Daredevils
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
I certainly didn’t go over the book with a fine-tooth comb, but I did notice an error right on the first page of the book:
There are actually three falls: the American Falls, and on the Canadian side Luna Falls (also known as the Bridal Veil) and Horseshoe Falls
Did you see the error? Bridal Veil Falls is actually on the American side.
There isn’t much else to say about the book. As I said above, it is meant to be a quick introduction, and it does its job well.