Book Review: Austin, Cleared for Takeoff: Aviators, Businessmen, and the Growth of an American City

At its widest point, Texas measures some 850 miles across. EI Paso, in the extreme west, is closer to Los Angeles than it is to Texarkana, sited near the state\u27s eastern boundary. Given the distances its citizens have to travel, Texas has always been attuned to transport technology. And people living in the capital, Austin, near the state\u27s center, have always been interested in finding rapid forms of travel to the far-flung cities and counties of the rest of the state. Thus, Ragsdale\u27s book touches on a highly relevant aspect of urban as well as regional history. Moreover, as national and international travel became accepted for business as well as pleasure, the role of airlines and airports serving Austin took on a growing immediacy