Empires of the Sky: Zeppelins, Airplanes, and Two Men’s Epic Duel to Rule the World

Historian Rose (Men at War) chronicles the early 20th century rivalry between airships and airplanes for the future of commercial air travel in this exhaustive account. Building toward the 1930s showdown between Hugo Eckener, head of Germany’s Zeppelin Company, and Juan Terry Trippe, leader of Pan American Airways, Rose tracks the development of the zeppelin airships and Eckener’s promotion of them as “the silvery herald of global travel” after he took charge of the company from Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in 1917. Meanwhile, Trippe, a former U.S. Navy pilot, realized that in order to stimulate enough demand to fuel the technological advancements needed to make transatlantic passenger flights possible, an airline needed “to own the exclusive right to operate between given destinations.” He acquired sole landing rights in Cuba, and the first Pan Am flight took off from Key West to Havana in 1927, launching a competition between the industries to win the political and popular support necessary to build fleets and open routes throughout the world. In Rose’s retelling, the fate of the zeppelin was sealed by the rise of the Nazi Party and the 1936 Hindenburg crash, which shifted international interest from airships to airlines. Rose wades deep into minutiae, but maintains a buoyant energy throughout. The result is a dense yet exhilarating history of the dawn of modern air travel. (Apr.)