When the Wright brothers invented their flying machine, Americans
lived in a nation of two dimensions, circumscribed by lines drawn on
a conventional map. A century later, their nation existed—in fact, 
reigned—in three dimensions. Two million Americans "slipped the
surly bonds of earth" daily, carried aloft by aircraft operating in 
every part of the world.

    The airplane turned the sky into a new domain of human activity,
a fast-developing frontier first braved by adventurous young men. Then
came the rich and the hurried, followed by just about everybody else.
Until now, no one has told the story of aviation as one of frontier 
expansion.

    Aviation's frontier stage lasted a scant three decades, then 
vanished as flying became a settled experience. Sky as Frontier
shows how commercial and military imperatives destroyed this
pioneer world by routinizing flight. Along the way, Courtwright stops
to consider dogfighting, barnstorming, the first air mail pilots, the 
development of airlines, air power during World War II, flight's impact
on the environment, the troubled space frontier, and how the male-
dominated aviation enterprise was domesticated and democratized.

    The history of American flight shows a fateful trade-off. 
Rationalization killed the adventure in flying but made possible 
rapid aerial expansion. With it came commercial growth and global 
military reach. In no other country did social life, business, and 
military operations become so intertwined with aerospace advances or 
have such large consequences for national power and prestige.   

_________________________________________________________

DAVID T. COURTWRIGHT's recent books include Violent Land: Single
Men and Social Disorder from the Frontier to the Inner City and the 
prize-winning Forces of Habit: Drugs and the Making of the Modern 
World. He lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and teaches at the 
University of North Florida.


Number Eleven: Centennial of Flight Series


What people are saying about this book

". . . a wonderful source of aeronautical ideas and information. It is also 
an excellent and entertaining read. Courtwright has an enviable eye for 
detail and irony . . . impeccably and richly sounded."—The Journal of 
Transport History, October 2006

"Sky as Frontier offers a fresh and interesting interpretation of the role 
of aviation in American culture, solidly rooted in both original and 
secondary sources . . . The book offers much food for thought, not only 
for historians of flight but also for students of broader issues in American 
History."—The Journal of American History, December 2005

"Courtwright adopts an innovative approach in analyzing the course of 
U.S. aerospace history from 1908 to 2001. . . . provides a useful 
paradigm for understanding the broader implications of America's 
aerospace century."—Choice, May 2005