Non-Stop: A Turbulent History of Northwest Airlines

Description

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

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.

"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