LIFTOFF: The First Aerospace Century chronicles the fascinating air-age century from the Wright brothers to the outer reaches of space and also conveys ways airplanes and later rockets and Space Shuttles shaped military, economic, societal, and artistic trends throughout the twentieth century. Rather than focusing solely on the history of the aviation industry, or cataloguing every airplane and rocket ever built, LIFTOFF tells the aerospace story within the context of general 20th century history, offering a vantage point far different from other technical or industry-focused books.