The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking (ALA Notable Books for Adults)

Author: Koerner, Brendan I.Brand: Brand: CrownEdition: First EditionFeatures: Used Book in Good ConditionBinding: HardcoverNumber Of Pages: 318Release Date: 18-06-2013Details: In an America torn apart by the Vietnam War and the demise of sixties idealism, airplane hijackings were astonishingly routine. Over a five-year period starting in 1968, the desperate and disillusioned seized commercial jets nearly once a week, using guns, bombs, and jars of acid. Some hijackers wished to escape to foreign lands, where they imagined being hailed as heroes; others aimed to swap hostages for sacks of cash. Their criminal exploits mesmerized the country, never more so than when the young lovers at the heart of Brendan I. Koerner’s The Skies Belong to Us pulled off the longest-distance hijacking in American history. A shattered Army veteran and a mischievous party girl, Roger Holder and Cathy Kerkow commandeered Western Airlines Flight 701 as a vague protest against the war. Through a combination of