Non-Stop: A Turbulent History of Northwest Airlines

Non-Stop captures the broad context and the intriguing details as it weavestogether the accounts of individuals who gave the airline its unique character.The story it tells, touching on everything from airline food and advertising tosmoking regulations and labor relations, encapsulates the profound changes tobusiness, travel, and culture that marked the twentieth century.

Table of Contents:
Contents Preface 1. The Romance of Aviation, the Perils of a BusinessBrittin’s BrainsAirmail FolliesPioneering PassengersLindbergh Brings His Lucky Name 2. No Runways, No ProblemThe Mystique of PilotsBrittin’s “Right-Hand Man”The Tragedy of SpeedThe Marco Polo of AviationBalancing a Tray on a Turbulent Flight 3. Pulled into the Modern AgeSecurity before TerrorismIsland of Quonset HutsEscape from ShanghaiClothing That Wears like Iron 4. Lithe Man with a Bright SmileA New Theater of WarThe Pudgy Plane That CouldThe Tale of a SwordStormy Weather 5. Adventures in Scale and EfficiencyHot Meals and Cold MartinisThe Red TailTake Me to Cuba 6. Planes Longer Than the Flight at Kitty HawkThe Air PirateA Rattler of a CEOAirlifting Propeller Shafts and Silkworms 7. One Whammy after AnotherChance Favors the Prepared MindThe Wondrous Flight of Herman the Goose“I Will Always Remember That You Were the First”The End of LivesSoaring Eagle 8. The Decade That Lasted a LifetimeLike It or Not, the Face of NorthwestDeaths in the FamilyBreaking to a Halt 9. Broke and Vanishing FastMechanical Derring-doThe Underwear BomberLights Out The History of Northwest Airlines Acknowledgments and SourcesIllustration CreditsIndex

About the Author :
Jack El-Hai's books include Lost Minnesota: Stories of Vanished Places (Minnesota, 2000) and The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness. He has written about business and history for the Atlantic, Scientific American Mind, History Channel Magazine, American Heritage, and Utne Reader.

Review :
"Jack El-Hai faithfully propels us through the history of a company we all took for granted. From rickety planes delivering mail to one of the largest and most respected airlines in the world, El-Hai lays it out through the highs and lows. At the beginning, heroic pilots and primitive gear, all the way to D.B. Cooper and the Underwear Bomber, the intriguing leadership and crafty politicians, to the final day when the lights went out at Northwest Airlines-all here presented in masterful style." -Don Shelby "[El-Hai’s] book is a concise record of aviation’s race to zoom further, faster, and ever more fashionably through the 20th century." -Wall Street Journal "El-Hai’s narrative captures the pivotal business and political moves that allowed Northwest to grow, while also spotlighting the characters and trends of the airline’s history." -Star Tribune "Non-Stop is not just a history of a particular airline, it is an examination of the whole airline industry. It’s a must for aviation buffs everywhere." -Chicago Tribune "Jack El-Hai’s new book, Non-Stop: A Turbulent History of Northwest Airlines, is a bright chronicle of one of the nation’s legacy airlines. Full of mid-century cool, this book soars along on a powerful slipstream of nostalgia." -Newsweek