Pan Am Book News

Some great Pan Am-related books have crossed our desk. And all of them are about or touch on Pan Am’s history and experiences.

Be sure to check out these publications, and also visit our Browse PAA Books page and Books For Kids!

REFERENCE

The Art of the Airport cover

by Alexander Gutzmer and Laura Frommberg
This beautifully-printed book lifts the appreciation of airport design out of the utilitarian and into the realm of the aesthetic.

 

By Huhne Pan Am History Design Identity

by M. C. Huhne 
Perhaps the most lavishly-illustrated work about Pan Am’s aesthetic legacy ever printed.

 

The Pan Am Clipper coverThe Pan Am Clipper: The History of Pan American's Flying Boats 1935–1945 (Golden Age of Travel) (2018)
by Roy Allen
Allen, author of ten books, and founder and editor of Airways International Magazine has updated his superlatively-crafted book.

 

Pan American Images of Modern AmericaPan American World Airways (Images of Modern America) (2015)
by Laura J. Hoffman and Retired Pan Am Captain Duyane A. Hoffman
Another worthy addition to the Arcadia Publications set, with illustrations curated from the collection of Pan Am Capt. Duyane Hoffman.

HISTORY

China Clipper by Ron Jackson coverChina Clipper: The Secret Pre-War Story of Pan American's Flying Boats (2017)
by Ronald William Jackson
An unusual account, a compendium of exhaustive, well-documented research and informed conjecture, the sum of which is a great read.

 

Hunting the Wind cover

Hunting the Wind: Pan American World Airways' Epic Flying Boat Era, 1929–1946 (2018)
by Teresa Webber and Jamie Dodson   
A compendium of well-written perspectives on a vanished age of aviation romance.

 

Pan Am Personal Tributes to Global Pioneer cover

Pan Am - Personal Tributes to a Global Aviation Pioneer (2017)
by Jeff Kriendler and James Patrick Baldwin
An anthology of Pan Am’s history, with numerous articles documenting the entire arc of “the world’s most experienced airline.”

 

Pan Am at War cover

Pan Am at War: How the Airline Secretly Helped America Fight World War II
by Mark Cotta Vaz and John H. Hill    

Serious scholarship addressing the oft-overlooked story of how America’s “chosen instrument” to carry the flag on international routes helped win the war.

 

NON-FICTION

Crash Detectives cover

The Crash Detectives: Investigating the World’s Most Mysterious Air Disasters (2016)
by Christine Negroni
An accomplished journalist digs into air disaster investigations – including that of Pan Am’s Hawaii Clipper, which disappeared in 1938.

 

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

Above and Below the clouds coverAbove and Below the Clouds: Observations (2013)
by Harry Frahm  
A selection of vividly-written reminiscences from a long and fascinating career starting in Cold War era Germany and going around the world.

 

Emotion in Motion coverEmotion in Motion: Tales of a Stewardess  (2017)
by Alexandra H. Rodrigues
A detailed personal account of one Pan Am stewardess’s fascinating career.

 

Pan Am No Sex PleasePan Am: No Sex Please. We're Flight Attendants (2016)
by Jon Breakfield
A well-written memoir – lots of fun, and some history too.

 

FICTION

Flying Conquistadors cover

Flying Conquistadors (2016)
by Michael Scott Bertrand
A fanciful adventure with real heroes, set in a time and place that perhaps is best portrayed with literary license. Great cover!

Paradise in Ruins cover

Paradise in Ruins: A Novel (View) of the Pacific War (2016)
by Antwyn Price  
An unusual, carefully-researched story, whose characters lead the reader through times and places that History mostly – and mistakenly – overlooked.