Empire of the air : aviation and the American ascendancy /

Van Vleck, Jenifer, 1974-

Empire of the air : aviation and the American ascendancy / Aviation and the American ascendancy Jenifer Van Vleck. - Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, (c)2013. - 1 online resource (370 pages, 22 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations, map -

Includes bibliographies and index.

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."

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.



9780674726246 9780674727328


Pan American World Airways, Inc.--History.


Aeronautics, Commercial--History--United States--20th century.
Aeronautics, Commercial--Political aspects--United States.
Aeronautics, Commercial--Social aspects--United States.
Aeronautics and state--History--United States--20th century.
Globalization.


Electronic Books.

HE9803 / .E475 2013