Boys' aviation series books from 1910–1950 shaped at least two 
generations' views of aircraft and American life. From the earliest 
days of aviation to those of spaceflight, they instilled a vision of flight 
both romantic and progressive. They described a future in which 
technology and humanity are complementary and offered flight as a 
way of bettering all mankind.

    In this first comprehensive study of the more than forty boys' 
aviation series, Erisman reveals the part played by the books and their 
writers in spurring the American nation's fascination with flying. It is 
a noteworthy piece of social and literary history that sheds new light 
on how popular art can transform technological progress into cultural 
idealism and reform.

    Some of the titles were written by journalists, others by military 
officers, and not a few by the pseudonymous ghosts of the 
Stratemeyer Syndicate (Tom Swift, the Hardy Boys, and Nancy 
Drew, among others), yet all shared the same goal. Populated with 
manly heroes in the Tom Swift and (later) Charles A. Lindbergh 
tradition and drawing upon the almost daily advances in aviation 
technology, the books communicated a steadfast vision of the 
liberating, exhilarating world that flying offered every boy. More 
than that, they conveyed as well a glimpse of the better world that 
would come as air-mindedness and aviation worked their uplifting 
influence on the larger community.

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FRED ERISMAN holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from the 
University of Minnesota and taught for thirty-five years at Texas 
Christian University. He held the Charles A. Lindbergh Chair of 
Aerospace History at the National Air and Space Museum, 
Smithsonian Institution, during the 2002–2003 year.