From the flights of the Wright brothers through the mass journeys of the jet age, airplanes inspired Americans to reimagine their nation's place within the world. Now, Jenifer Van Vleck reveals the central role commercial aviation played in the United States' rise to global preeminence in the twentieth century. As U.S. military and economic influence grew, the federal government partnered with the aviation industry to carry and deliver American power across the globe and to sell the very idea of the "American Century" to the public at home and abroad.

Invented on American soil and widely viewed as a symbol of national greatness, the airplane promised to extend the frontiers of the United States "to infinity," as Pan American World Airways president Juan Trippe said. As it accelerated the global circulation of U.S. capital, consumer goods, technologies, weapons, popular culture, and expertise, few places remained distant from the influence of Wall Street and Washington. Aviation promised to secure a new type of empire--an empire of the air instead of the land, which emphasized access to markets rather than the conquest of territory and made the entire world America's sphere of influence.

By the late 1960s, however, foreign airlines and governments were challenging America's control of global airways, and the domestic aviation industry hit turbulent times. Just as the history of commercial aviation helps to explain the ascendance of American power, its subsequent challenges reflect the limits and contradictions of the American Century.

An essential introduction to contemporary strategy at the operational level of war, now in its second edition

Military Strategy, Joint Operations, and Airpower introduces contemporary strategy at the operational level of war, particularly as it relates to airpower. Developed as foundational reading for all US Air Force Academy cadets, Air Force ROTC students, and Officer Training School candidates, this intermediate textbook is designed to close the gap between military theory and practice. It covers strategic foundations; operational design and joint-service operations; the air, space, and cyber capabilities that comprise modern airpower; and contemporary challenges in the application of strategy.

In this second edition, each chapter has been updated and revised, and several sections have been expanded. Part 2, “Military Forces and the Joint Fight,” now features separate chapters about each service. Similarly, operational design is expanded from one to four chapters to provide a more thorough step-by-step guide through the process. New chapters in this second edition include “Integrating the Instruments of Power,” “The Spectrum of Conflict and Range of Military Operations,” and “The Nuclear Weapons Triad and Missile Defense.”

Military Strategy, Joint Operations, and Airpower’s contributing authors and editors include both military practitioners and scholars of security studies, political science, and history. In addition to being required reading for US Air Force cadets, the book provides an essential overview of strategy and practice for anyone interested in modern airpower.

This book celebrates the aviators, astronauts, airline executives, and other innovators who have made Texas an influential world leader in the aerospace industry over the past century.

Tracing the hundred-year history of aviation in Texas, aviator and historian Barbara Ganson brings to life the colorful personalities that shaped the phenomenally successful development of this industry in the state. Weaving stories and profiles of aviators, designers, manufacturers, and those in related services, Texas Takes Wing covers the major trends that propelled Texas to the forefront of the field. Covering institutions from San Antonio’s Randolph Air Force Base (the West Point of this branch of service) to Brownsville’s airport with its Pan American Airlines instrument flight school (which served as an international gateway to Latin America as early as the 1920s) to Houston’s Johnson Space Center, home of Mission Control for the U.S. space program, the book provides an exhilarating timeline and engaging history of dozens of unsung pioneers as well as their more widely celebrated peers.

Drawn from personal interviews as well as major archives and the collections of several commercial airlines, including American, Southwest, Braniff, Pan American Airways, and Continental, this sweeping history captures the story of powered flight in Texas since 1910. With its generally favorable flying weather, flat terrain, and wide open spaces, Texas has more airports than any other state and is often considered one of America’s most aviation-friendly places. Texas Takes Wing also explores the men and women who made the region pivotal in military training, aircraft manufacturing during wartime, general aviation, and air servicing of the agricultural industry. The result is a soaring history that will delight aviators and passengers alike.