Naked Airport: A Cultural History of the World's Most Revolutionary Structure by Alastair Gordon

Incredible as it may seem now, there was a time when leading architects, urban planners, and civil engineers proposed that the city of the future should have the airport at its center, surrounded by tall buildings. The airport of the time was seen as a source of entertainment and a gathering point. Restaurants and shopping overlooked the tarmacs. People were encouraged to stay, watch the planes land, and get autographs from the movie stars as they debarked. This was before jets were introduced into commercial airline service. It was also before the hijackings of the 1960s. I enjoyed reading the stories about the big airports – La Guardia, Kennedy, O’Hare, and Heathrow. This well-written book should appeal to many history readers.