Alfred Loewenstein was a financial tycoon in the 1920's, the world's third richest man. He had homes in various countries and traveled with an entourage, living a lavish lifestyle. But in July of 1928, on a short airline trip from London to the French coast, he somehow fell out of the airplane. His body was recovered days later. Since it happened over international waters, no police agency was responsible and the French police did a one day investigation, merely taking statements from all those aboard.

How does a man fall from an airplane? Was it an accident as those aboard said? Was it suicide? Was it murder? Investigative reporter William Norris became fascinated by the story and decided to find out what he could. Why was alcohol found in the body of Loewenstein who never drank? Why did the plane make a forced landing on a French beach when the nearest airport was less than a mile away? Why did his wife not attend his funeral but found time to attend the reading of the will?

William Norris is currently an editor at Washington Monthly. Before this book, he wrote one about a man who piloted for a cocaine cartel. He takes the reader through all Loewenstein's life, that of his family, friends and staff as he tries to discover what happened. There are lots of financial dealings to understand and Norris does a good job of explaining them to those not familiar with the financial world. At the end of the book, he posits an explanation of what he thought happened and who was responsible. I listened to this book and the narrator was great. He had a quality in his voice that made each discovery seem new and exciting and that encouraged the reader to find out more. This book is recommended for nonfiction readers.

A deep dive into an unsolved mystery about the death of an eccentric man. I'd never heard of Alfred Loewenstein and let's face it, neither have you. But this dude had a weird life and a weirder death, and he is definitely worth learning about.

I love books like this that get into the nitty gritty of mysteries from the past. I never thought I'd learn so much about obsolete airplane doors. However, this kind of thing is not for everyone. I could understand some people finding it boring.

My big issue with the book was the sheer amount of information. It's just not presented in a way the reader can easily assimilate. I found myself getting confused as to what happened when, what company Alfred owned at any given time, who that guy was I hadn't heard about in several chapters but had now reappeared, etc.

I received my audiobook from NetGalley for review purposes.

This was my first true crime! I had so much fun with it and I liked how well researched it is. Even that it is true crime it feels like fiction, which I really enjoyed. It was fun how the author represented possible scenarios on how Mr. Lowenstein could have died. It felt like the author took me with him on his research journey.

When I picked this book, I was not aware of its original publishing date. I somehow did not pay attention to it. It was only when I was sitting down to write this review did I finally figure that out. This book is about one year older than me, which makes sense given the people the author encounters on the way.

If I had one word to describe this story, I would call it thorough. The narration was brilliant and brought the wry asides of the author to life. I enjoyed the book even with all the financial conversations. I have never completely understood the stock markets and do not really try to. Having a basic understanding of financial transactions would very well have helped. I would have rated this audiobook a full five stars if I was into that kind of thing. That said, I credit both the author and the narrator with producing a work that kept me hooked even when parts of it covered the driest facts possible. I might not have been able to finish the written version or would have skipped a lot of relevant parts.

Captain Alfred Lowenstein died under mysterious circumstances. His antecedents and his behavioural oddities, coupled with the surprising events in the days preceding and after his death, all add up to something a person with a penchant for research could not resist. The author puts his case forward in a very thorough manner (there’s that word again). He begins with who the deceased was and what he stood for. He then follows up by debunking proposed theories, following up with stronger ones of his own. As mentioned earlier, the financial transactions across the Western world feature heavily here and may have had a hand in how things came to pass. It was a highly satisfying listening experience. It shone a light into a completely new (for me) side of the Western world in the early 1900s. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes historical true-crime where there is no conclusive end result with regards to the world at large, but I was wholly convinced by the logical sequence of events.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Lowenstein with a man usually left to footnotes and short mysteries we will tell our friends. The man who missing in midflight. They say the devil is in the details and all the details are in the book, The Man Who Fell From The Sky. Whitmore in just a footnote we get to know about his life and his death, from the suspects in the motive, to his intelligence. The author even track the people who knew him in life after all these years and all of it is in this book. I listen to the audio version I thought the narrator did a great job, I really believe a narrator can make or break an audiobook in this one only added to its greatness. From beginning to end this is a very intriguing tale and one that I highly recommend! Please forgive any grammatical or punctuational errors as I am blind and dictate most of my review.

I enjoyed reading this very interesting book. I have given it 3.5 stars rounded up. This is not marked down for the story or its written style it was just the subject matter wasn't fully to my taste. I listened to the audiobook . I am just getting into true crime books. The title of this book instantly drew me in. I knew nothing about the subject matter which was probably why it didn't get my highest rating. I did find this book very intriguing. The author had a brilliant understanding of the case and brought across a really good account and evidence looking at this true crime case from every angle.  I enjoyed the narrators presentation of this book and kept me enjoying it right until the end. I found it really interesting and loved the very clever outcome at the end . I would recommend this book to real true crime fans who really are interested in business as a motive.
I would like to thank the author and publishers for bringing us this thoroughly interesting and thought provoking case to light.
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/the-man-who-fell-from-the-sky-by-william-norris-ibpa-independant-author
Under my name or ladyreading365 or lady Reading365

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* pretty interesting read but wish there would have been just something more? never heard of this case so it was interesting to read this but wouldn't reread it.

I honestly never expected to learn or even read so much about the stock market and business acquisitions from a biography but this book was surprisingly informative. about that stuff. There is a lot of information in this book that makes it a very weighty read or listen in this instance.
If you want to be technical about it, there isn't really a closure or an ending to this story. The reader does not know for sure what happened to Alfred Lowenstein and no one ever will at this point in time - so long after these events took place. There is no 'a-ha' moment at the end, William Norris is reasonably sure that he knows the truth of what occurred that day and wrote the truth about what happened to Lowenstein, but there is no way to be 100% certain.
This audiobook was fine and I listened to it all the way through, but ultimately it is a little too dry and stock heavy for me to be fully drawn into the story or be interested in re-reading it.

Alfred Loewenstein was a tycoon 100 years ago, the third richest man in the world until he met his untimely death by falling 4000 feet to his death while his airplane flew over the English Channel. Those aboard the aircraft claim he went to the bathroom and never came back, stating that he must have opened the wrong door and fallen out by accident. Other people theorized that he was murdered by one or more people traveling with him on that flight. A few people even claim that Loewenstein faked his own death. In <i>The Man Who Fell From the Sky</i>, William Norris investigates the evidence available to him in the mid 1980s and comes to his conclusion as to exactly what happened that day.

This book was originally published in 1987, with the new audio version released in 2021. I suspect that it was rereleased in this format due to the popularity of true crime podcasts and books these days. Norris did an incredible job researching and finding clues from an event that had taken place more than 50 years ago. The fact that he had to do so without the benefit of the internet makes it even more impressive. It is impossible to say with 100% certainty what happened that night without having been there, especially as a lot of the key players were dead by the time Norris started his investigation. Nevertheless, he presents a plausible theory. I am surprised that we never hear about Loewenstein today, given his influence in business in the 1920s and his unusual death. It was interesting learning about his life and death, but I must admit that some of the details of his business dealings were a bit tedious to listen to. Overall, it was a good listen; Tom Beyer did a nice job narrating the story.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

**please note due to low rating I will not be leaving a public review for this book**
Narrator, 5 stars because of the great voice.
The story 2 stars because I just couldn’t get into it and it just isn’t my style.

Well researched. You can tell the author is passionate and did a great job taking us back in time, although he intricate financials lost me. I struggled past them immensely, I feel that we could have done better pulling in readers in the beginning without all the mental gymnastics to struggle to understand it.

The Man Who Fell from the Sky follows the mysterious true story of financier Alfred Lowenstein, who fell to his death in 1928 while flying across the channel in his own plane with his crew. There was very little investigation into his death at the time, and the cause was never truly discovered - was this murder, suicide or a tragic accident as the inquest decided?

I listened to the audio book of this on Netgalley, and it was a story of two halves for me. The narration was slow, and I ended up listening to it sped up, and sometimes I got a bit annoyed by the voices that the narrator put on, but overall his slow steady tone suited the story

There were quite a few chapters that went into technical detail about shares and business transactions and I found these hard going. I think if I had been reading the physical book I would have struggled to finish due to these. As it was, I listened in the car on the way to work and found my thoughts drifting so probably missed some of the point of these.

However, the story redeemed itself in the interrogation of Lowensteins relationships and how these intertwined to lead to his death and it was these that kept me listening. I think I carried on to the end because it was a true story and I like unsolved cases, whereas I would have struggled had this been fictional.

There was clearly a lot of work and research gone into the book, and I commend the author for that, but I found that such a mysterious topic was made quite dry and I think the book would have been better had the technical chapters been shorter.

First thanks to Netgalley and the publisher CamCat Perspectives for the opportunity to listen to the audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

True life murder mystery of Alfred Loewenstein who seriously fell from a plane he was traveling on in the 1920's. mmm...a bit of dodgy police work here. The author dove headfirst into the business dealings, his family, his coworkers, the press and gave a solid understanding of the times and the chicanery going on.

For those interested in the period, business dealings and the surprising death of a billionaire it is a good listen. The narration is well done - note it is an American actor with a solid wry tone that I enjoyed.

Brief Synopsis: Multi-millionaire Alfred Lowenstein lived an extravagant life. In 1928 his life came to a tragic end. After boarding a plane traveling from England to Brussels, Alfred fell out somewhere over the English Channel. Did he jump or was he pushed? This book lays out investigative journalist (and author) William Norris’ research and theory behind Lowenstein’s death.

Thoughts: I had never heard of Alfred Lowenstein or his controversial death. I can see why the author decided to dive into this one. It’s truly a bizarre, true “crime” story. The narrative was well researched and factual. It was also laid out in an engaging, linear way. It doesn’t read like a research paper; it almost feels like a true crime podcast. You learn about who Alfred was, his business ventures, his scandalous side, as well as learn about the people in his circle. Norris supported his theory well, while also giving light to other credible theories. Since Lowenstein’s death was never officially investigated, you have to be ok with an ambiguous ending.

Fun fact: In the 90s, I was in a twin engine Cessna that had a door malfunction and open mid-flight. So I found the story surrounding Alfred’s death extremely realistic.

Thank you to William Norris, CamCat Perspectives, and NetGalley for access to this! I would highly recommend this audiobook to anyone who enjoys true crime podcasts or unsolved mysteries.

My first audiobook I ever did was written by William Norris and narrated by Tom Beyer, so I knew I was already onto a winner with this one!

Alfred Loewenstein was a financier who was worth millions. In 1928, on a flight from the UK to Belgium, he got up to use the bathroom and wasn’t seen alive again. His body was discovered two weeks later. Originally published in 1987, this has been spruced up for 2021 with the added bonus of now coming in audio. It certainly doesn’t feel like it’s that old, and it is only when Beyer is reading phrases such as “almost 60 years ago” that you realise that this book itself is now 35 years old!

There was a lot of background around Loewenstein’s business dealings and around how stocks and trading worked in the 1920’s but everything was explained very well. It was also interesting getting an insight into how someone would research a book when contemporary sources are often lost or destroyed, and when people who were alive at the time are often unable to be traced due to poor records, detail/name changes, or death. I also liked the thought put into the theory that Norris puts forth as to what exactly happened to Loewenstein. We’ll never know what happened on that summer evening, but it certainly makes more sense than the insinuation by staff on the plane at the time that he’d accidentally opened the door, mistaking it for the bathroom.

I have been on a huge historical true crime binge this year, and this book is worth adding to the list. Beyer’s narration is clear and concise, and I especially loved his querulous old English lady voice! Norris pulls you in and gets you thinking about who would benefit from Loewenstein’s death as well as detailing life and business in the late 20s before the stock market crash of ‘29.

Many thanks to NetGalley and CamCat Perspectives for providing me with an audioARC to review. All opinions are my own, and I reviewed this book voluntarily.

I listened to the audio version of this book and it was like one of the real life podcasts which you can find on places like BBC sounds. I had never heard of Alfred Loewenstein and am surprised that his death had been so covered up. I found it rather long and drawn out although undoubtedly there was plenty of material to fill the time taken. It is clear that a great deal of research has gone into this work. Listen to this if you enjoy historical/true crime investigations. You won't be disappointed.

Very enjoyable story. The narrator did a good job of keeping my attention throughout. The narrative itself was fun and I am surprised that this is not a story I have heard of before. While not my favorite read of the year so far, definitely a fun and memorable story.

An interesting book. I had never heard of Alfred Loewenstein and was amazed that his death had been wiped from history. As the book is written in the first person recording conversations with various witnesses and explaining evidence, the audio book made it more alive. I would, however, have expected a narrator with an English accent; some of the character accents were very poor. Despite the middle of the book dragging a little, I really enjoyed it. I'm surprised Loewenstein's life has never been the subject of a film; he really was a larger than life character.

Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read this. I really liked the book but thought it would end better if I can just say that without spoilers. Very well written and much research done to make this great book.

This true crime story is written by Norris who researched and gives his opinions based on the facts he finds, as well as the knowledge he has with respect to commonsense problem solving.

Investments, stocks, price per share, etc. are a large part of the book. Norris is following the money. The story read dry and long for me. I could follow the personal life but the money trail was too much.

I did have the audiobook and was confused by the narrator; I expected a British accent. However, that may have complicated following along with a heavy accent.

All-in-all, I blindly went into this book, saw the title and jumped in. I had forgotten it was true crime nonfiction. I had never heard of Loewenstein. Norris makes his case as far as I could keep up with him. I enjoyed his personality that came through in his writing.

Thank you NetGalley, William Norris, and CamCat Perspectives for accepting my request to read and review The Man Who Fell From the Sky.

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