China Airborne

March 5, 2012
Journalist Fallows, a national correspondent for the Atlantic, takes us through China’s emerging role in the aviation industry—its past, and its developing future. Despite its ample historical facts and descriptions, Fallows keeps the reader engaged by weaving personal stories and lively personalities into his depiction of the changing aerospace landscape. He tackles technical facets and political obstacles that China faces as it tries to become an aerospace power, but for Fallows, aviation is just a prime example of larger dynamics in the Chinese economy: “balance and tension.” All of this coalesces into a picture of China as a country propelling forward, “addicted to growth.” Whether readers have an interest in aviation or China’s role in the global economy, Fallows’s book makes for an intriguing read, looking at both sides of the picture: reasons for why China might succeed, as well as those for why the country might struggle. Agent: Wendy Weil Agency.

April 15, 2012
In this natural follow-up to Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China (2008), Atlantic correspondent Fallows analyzes the problems and promises of China's economic development through an examination of the efforts to create a world-class aerospace industry. With its unprecedented manufacturing prowess, China has become a world economic power. But how real and sustainable is the development? The test, writes the author, is how well China succeeds in its current effort to build an aerospace industry, to which the Chinese government has pledged $230 billion. "If China can succeed fully in aerospace," writes Fallows, "then in principle there is very little it cannot do." However, this is no easy task. It is one thing to assemble iPhones, quite another to build an industry of the complexity of aerospace. Fallows ably guides readers through this complexity: developing internationally recognized standards of safety and inspection, ensuring adequate air space above China for a busy airline industry, developing and manufacturing airplanes, and their millions of components, that can compete with established manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus. In this effort, Fallows sees both the broad positive and negative features of Chinese society. While China's economy at its best is marked by an anarchic spontaneity of entrepreneurial energy, this energy is often checked by a state apparatus obsessed with monitoring and controlling it. If the government will not allow open Internet access, it cannot easily open up the skies to commercial flights. The Chinese military owns the country's airspace, with only a few narrow corridors open for commercial flights into China's major cities. With precise yet accessible language, Fallows discusses a variety of contradictions in China, revealing much more about it than its prospects as an aerospace power. An enjoyable, important update on an enigmatic economic giant.

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Starred review from April 1, 2012
Atlantic correspondent Fallows dives into this most timely subject and, in brisk yet erudite language, takes readers on a tour of China's burgeoning aviation industry. Along the way, he provides an in-depth look at a place where general aviation is nearly nonexistent, multimillion dollar airports are built before airline traffic is approved, and the military holds ultimate control over all of the airspace. This economic and political narrative includes a great deal of history as well, including that of the American aircraft company Cirrus (now owned by the Chinese government, a subject that Fallows hints is worthy of a book of its own) and a significant look at the shadow Boeing casts worldwide. Fallows' prescient look at society, culture, and business is based on his conversations with numerous individuals in China who spoke to him about the hard shift required to change gears and embrace open and accessible aviation, and the epic hurdles that stand in the way. Paired with China's Wings (2012), readers will acquire an unparalleled view of China in the air past, present, and future. Highly readable and significant, Fallows' book should not be missed by those seeking to understand America's relationship with this global power.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)