FLYING HIGH: THE STORY OF BOEING AND THE RISE OF THE JETLINER INDUSTRY

FLYING HIGH was written by Eugene Rodgers and published by
Atlantic Monthly Press in winter of 1996/1997.  A nonfiction
book, it has 502 pages, photographs, detailed bibliography,
and index.  The retail price is $27.50.  Books may be ordered
at any bookstore or online book seller.  The ISBN is
0-87113-655-4.

Reviews--

KIRKUS REVIEWS (serving bookstores and libraries):  "An
evenhanded and informative history of Boeing...a lively
anecdotal account....An astute and independent observer's
engrossing (albeit unsparing) perspectives on one of the
20th century's genuinely consequential enterprises."

PUBLISHERS' WEEKLY:  "(Rodgers's) research is
thorough....(He) adds a poignant coda to each chapter by
incorporating the personal stories of two workers...."

USA TODAY (business section):  "...telling (Boeing's) story
afresh isn't especially easy....That's where Eugene
Rodgers's fluid style and narrative ease come in; he tells
his story well.  He's even detected some new warts....
Rodgers writes a smooth tale, perhaps the best of this
genre since...THE SPORTY GAME....Rodgers is selective
enough to weave a story that's a pleasure to follow...."

WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD:  "How Boeing became the
winner-take-all survivor in the decades-long struggle
for American airplane manufacturing supremacy is
a good story, and...Eugene Rodgers has told it well....
Rodgers uses a novelist's approach, (which) proves an
effective technique for getting beyond the usual
business-school case study....(William Boeing's) goal of
building reliable projects for less money than the
competition...continues to permeate the Boeing culture.
Rodgers has done a readable job of explaining how."

SEATTLE TIMES:  "....Rodgers has written the best (Boeing)
history to date....It's also the most readable, written in a
novelistic style that will interest a broad audience....
Rodgers avoided the acronyms and insider engineering lingo
that often bog down books about Boeing.  He carefully
explains what things mean to aid non-industry readers....
FLYING HIGH is worth the four year that Rodgers put into
writingit....The book contains fascinating personal details....
Rodgers provides intriguing new details and behind the scenes
anecdotes...including personal conflicts...that usually are
glossed over in company books....FLYING HIGH provides a
much broader glimpse of how thing work inisde the Boeing
Company and the Boeing culture than its predecessors."

WICHITA EAGLE:  "....This isn't just a back-slapping rehash
of favorite Boeing legends...(It) will open up whole new areas
of study for scholars interested in Boeing--scholars in such
disciplines as business, politics, management, and
international relations....Rodgers brings an academic's
thoroughness to the job, digging out details that haven't
surfaced before...He also writes with a journalist's flair,
which makes FLYING HIGH enjoyable to read....Read this
book and you'll know what to watch for the next time Boeing
executives get an itch."

BOEING NEWS (Boeing's employee newspaper):  "FLYING HIGH
gives (an) honest appraisal of Boeing...(It) offers an
intimate and honest look inside the hangar doors and into the
corporate boardroom...Readers...will find the wonders AND
the warts...."

AMAZON.COM BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT EXPERT EDITOR:  "Eugene
Rodgers parlays the unusual access he was given to the
aircraft firm's internal archives and primary figures into a
perceptive, comprehensive behind-the-scenes account of one of
this century's most noteworthy companies."

MICHAEL PELLECHIA (syndicated reviewer):  "Rodgers
supplies a story-filled narrative interspersed with analysis
that sheds light for the lay reader on how this important
industry works...the story deserves the attention of
intelligent readers everywhere."

AIRWAYS:  "This is both an interesting and an insightful book
...one of the relative handful of aircraft books that are
literally hard to put down...Brings Boeing and its people to
life. Good reading."

AVIATION INTERNATIONAL NEWS:  "....The real Boeing
story (is) set forth in engaging detail in FLYING HIGH....
Rodgers takes his readers on a guided tour of the Boeing
empire...in lively, engaging prose that makes the Boeing
adventure really come to life...Rodgers has done a superb
job of...giving heart and soul to the (business)."

AIRLINERS magazine:  "Although not a novel, FLYING
HIGH reads like one....Rodgers utilizes his smooth writing
style to produce what has been called 'the best (Boeing)
company history'....This easy-reading book will provide a
broad and fascinating look at aviation's most prolific
airplane builder."

INFLIGHT USA:  "This compelling history of Boeing is
portrayed in an easy reading, flowing style by Rodgers,
which makes for an enjoyable book...."

JOURNAL OF THE WEST:  "Rodgers has written the best
history of the aerospace giant thus far."

The publisher's dustjacket copy follows:

"FLYING HIGH is the first investigative history of one of the
world's most influential corporations, the Boeing Company.
In an objective and riveting journalistic account, Eugene
Rodgers tells how this giant of a company developed the
jetliners that revolutionized travel, shrank the world, and
made America the international ruler of the aircraft industry.

"Through  interviews with present and past managers, engineers,
and executives, and with access to internal company documents,
Rodgers has reconstructed the compelling history of an
American business that started small, dodged pitfalls, and
managed to evolve into a leader despite intense competition
and near collapses.  Founded just prior to the outbreak of
World War I, Boeing and its bombers played a pivotal role in
World War II, but the company suffered in peacetime due to
lack of contracts, and only narrowly survived.  After Boeing's
creation in the 1950s of the first practical jetliner, the
707, the company led the burgeoning passenger-plane
business.  In 1965, Boeing began one of the most daring
and ambitious research and development projects ever
attempted by a private company:  the 747.  In a feat of
extremely daring financing, Boeing staked its future on the
model's success, came near to economic ruin because of
it, and in the end pulled off an amazing triumph.

"Three towering figures dominate Boeing's epic rise:  its
founder, Bill Boeing; president and CEO Bill Allen; and
Allen's successor, "T" Wilson.  Based on company archives,
documents including Allen's previously unseen diary, and
interviews with executives, FLYING HIGH chronicles
Boeing's achievements, controversies, and inner workings,
and sheds light on one of the few American industries
that still dominate the world.

"Eugene Rodgers is the author of BEYOND THE BARRIER:  THE
STORY OF BYRD'S FIRST EXPEDITION TO ANTARCTICA.  He has
worked as an adjunct instructor in the management department
of the School of Business at Virginia Commonwealth
University."

Comments printed on the back of the dustjacket--

"The Boeing Company's story is an exciting chapter in
aviation history.  Eugene Rodgers's accurate account is well
crafted, catching the drama and personalities of a great
American enterprise."--Dr. Charles D. Bright (retired
professor, former pilot, and author of THE JETMAKERS, the
definitive history of the aircraft industry.  Dr. Bright
is researching the history of Boeing).

"FLYING HIGH belongs on the short list of superb
investigations of the aviation and airliner industries.  It
is required reading for anyone intersted in the ways large,
dominant corporations in these industries operate and the
nature of the relationships between such businesses and
governments in the increasingly complex business
environment."--Robert Sobel, Lawrence Stessin Professor
of Business History, Hoftstra University.

The publisher's press relaese announcing publication reads,
in part:

"Rodgers...(provides) insights into Boeing's business
practices, management decisions, and the great risks the
company has taken in order to stay on top.  Chief among the
latter are the development of commercial jetliners in the
1950s when competitors shied away, and the creation of the
world's largest passenger airplane, the 747.

"Provided with access to compamy archives never before
offered to an ouside writer, FLYING HIGH is much more than an
aviation book or company history.  Rather than illustrating
the characteristics, performance, or technology of aircraft,
the book describes the circumstances, personalities,
conflicts, and decisions behind the aircraft.  FLYING HIGH is
the story of protagonists facing great challenges, taking
huge chances, and overcoming tremendous obstacles to make the
best airplanes and most money in a cut-throat business.

"....The book details Boeing's brush with bankruptcy as it
gambled on the 747, the development of its blue-collar and
engineers' unions, and several Washington and overseas
scandals that have rocked the company.  For the most part,
however, FLYING HIGH is the story of American business in
the twentieth century.  It provides a full picture, warts and
all, of a premier company that has successfully contended
with its own enormous impact on the national economy."

FLYING HIGH tells what life with a huge corporation is like.
As a subplot, it includes the stories of the lives and careers
of two Boeing employees, an engineer who was a leader of the
engineers' union before becoming a manager, and a factory
worker who's a member of the Machinists' union.  The book
doesn't tell readers how airplanes work--it shows them how
corporations work.  It is written for the reader of general
nonfiction, and does not presume knowledge of aeronautical
technology or the aviation industries.

FLYING HIGH, representing four years of research and writing,
incorporates the results of hundreds of interviews with people
inside and outside Boeing, including Boeing's chairman,
president, and other senior executives, a retired chairman
and vice chairman, and the designers of several jetliners.
The book also uses information from an in-depth investigation
of sources in libraries and archives (including Boeing's own
archives), and presents revelations from the private diary of
a long-time CEO, the late Bill Allen.

Rodgers has long experience writing about manufacturers
and technology, having been a senior writer for United
Technologies, IBM, and Westinghouse.  He earned a
B.S. in chemistry and an M.S. in finance.  Full biographies
are in WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA and CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS.