The Skies Belong to Us

The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking
First Edition
AuthorBrendan I. Koerner
LanguageEnglish
PublisherCrown Publishing Group (USA)
Publication date
2013
Publication placeUnited States
Media typeHardback
ISBN978-0307886101
Preceded byNow the Hell Will Start 

The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking is a 2013 narrative nonfiction book by the American author Brendan I. Koerner. It is a history of the "golden age" of aircraft hijacking in the United States from the first incident in May 1961 through January 1973. Hijackings during this period took place as often as once a week, with about 160 incidents in total (most were to Cuba). The book looks at the causes of the epidemic, some of the more famous ones and follows in-depth the story of the longest-distance skyjacking in American history, involving Willie Roger Holder and Catherine Marie Kerkow, a young couple who took control of Western Airlines Flight 701 on June 2, 1972, and ended up flying across the Atlantic Ocean to Algeria. It finally examines what brought the hijacking craze to an end in 1973.

The book was favorably reviewed including in the New York Times Book Review,[1] New York Times,[2] Washington Post,[3] Los Angeles Times,[4] The National (Abu Dhabi),[5] SFGate,[6] and Bookforum.[7]

  1. ^ Benjamin Wallace-Wells (July 5, 2013). "Theirs for the Taking". New York Times Book Review. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  2. ^ Dwight Garner (June 13, 2013). "Bonnie and Clyde, the Aerial Version". New York Times. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  3. ^ Daniel Stashower (July 12, 2013). "Book review: 'The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking' by Brendan I. Koerner". Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 17, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  4. ^ Héctor Tobar (June 20, 2013). "Fly the unfriendly skies with 'The Skies Belong to Us'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  5. ^ Jamie Kenny (August 3, 2013). "The Skies Belong to Us: a look at the era of airline hijackings". The National. UAE. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  6. ^ Glenn C. Altschuler (June 28, 2013). "'The Skies Belong to Us,' by Brendan Koerner". SFGate. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  7. ^ Jordan Smith (July 2, 2013). "Terror in the Skies". Bookforum. Retrieved October 16, 2013.