Barons of the Sky

by Wayne Biddle

Presents the history of the aerospace weapons industry and of the extraordinary people and machines that created such companies as Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, and Boeing

Genres: History, Aviation

366 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a great deal of interesting information here. Nicely written. I recommend the book as a worthwhile read.
A few small bones to pick and the reason I put 3 stars and not 4:

I don't know how a book subtitled "The Story of the American Aerospace Industry" can virtually ignore the Boeing Company even realizing the author wanted to focus on the leading personalities.

The author clearly feels the American "war merchants" played a role boarding on wicked, if not evil, for the pain and suffering caused by their products. Perhaps that is just my take away. The other side of that coin is they also provided these frightening tools that enabled the free world to fight off great evil in WWII.

He properly points out the large amount of money the US government paid these barons which is very true. Yet, we also see the government funding R&D efforts in other areas i.e. medicine, education, communication technology, etc. Additionally, a very large percentage of the money invested by the government actually went to payroll for employees at a time when the job market was difficult.

Those are my thoughts, well worth the read and my opinions are just that. Enjoy.

[Paul Foley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half biography, half history, this book follows the careers of some four pioneers of the US aircraft industry. It makes a compelling case that aircraft manufacturing was and is dependent on Federal support in the form of defense contracts.

[Doug Harlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book interesting in the details, it is more business oriented than I expected and seemed to be biased against the way government/military aviation grew up.