Introduction : the logic of the air -- The Americanization of the airplane -- Good neighbors are close neighbors -- Global visions, national interests -- "America's lifeline to Africa" -- From open door to open sky -- Mass air travel and the routes of the Cold War -- The jet age and the limits of American power -- Conclusion : "Empires rise and empires fall."
Summary
Jenifer Van Vleck's Empire of the Air reveals the central role commercial aviation played in the U.S. ascent to global preeminence in the twentieth century, as the federal government partnered with the aviation industry to deliver American power across the globe and sell the idea of the "American Century" to the public at home and abroad
