This book was not what I expected.  While I did enjoy quite a bit of the history of Pan Am and the stewardesses in the 60's and 70's I felt the author was really giving a history lesson about the Vietnam war.  I understand that many of the women who signed up to be stewardesses were doing so because they felt that it was something they could do to help the soldiers, but a thorough history lesson was not necessary.  The stories about the real women who flew, especially Tori, Lynne and Karen who flew on Operation Babylift, were amazing and incredibly facinating.  I'd pay to listen to those women talk!  So in the end I give this book 3 stars.  
Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC!

As someone who is very afraid of planes (but loves to travel), it was interesting to see how things worked inside Pan Am Airlines. It was the first book I've read from this author, and I have to say, it was amazing. Not only because it was about something I knew very little about, but it was also because the way she presents the story. Julia Cooke (hey, name twins!) is an amazing writer, and I'm very anxious to read others books from her. 

It was a captiving story, who hooked me from beggining to end. Bathed in feminism, this book is perfect for those who want to know more about what happens behind the flight and how the rights of women working in airlines have changed since the 1960s.

"Come Fly the World" is a fascinating look at the world of flight attendants in a more glamorous age, although that age clearly was more challenging on a number of levels. Women took on the role of flight attendant ("stewardess" back then) for many reasons, among them the freedom to travel and see the world, personal independence, and the opportunity for freedom that wasn't easily found for women decades ago. This is an era, not so long ago, when the career options for women were limited. Female employees of the State Department, looking to build careers in diplomatic service, had to retire when they got married.

Throughout these decades, as the airline industry grew in a post-World War II world, the tough, smart women who worked for the airlines were witness to a changing world, including some of its glories and its horrors, like their participation in flights carrying soldiers to and from the Vietnam War, and the airlifts to save orphaned children as US involvement drew to a close.

Focusing primarily on Pan Am and the culture that grew with this leading international airline--with discussions of the roles of other airlines, as well--"Come Fly the World" immerses the reader in the experience airlines, particularly Pan Am, looked to create for travelers in a very different era from today's travel experience. The onboard announcements were part of the "showmanship," as the book quotes a publication of the day pointing out. "Our passengers are starting out on an adventure and we are helping them to get the feel of it immediately." Of course, this also was an era when there was no question about the image the airlines wanted to project in their stewardesses. Applying lipstick the right way, grooming lessons, and so on, all were part of the job. This continued and only took on a cruder tone in the "fly me" era of sexually-charged airline advertising.

While the exploitive nature of this airline-to-employee relationship is dubious, any number of these ladies also enjoyed the sexual and romantic freedom their profession offered. Happily, this book doesn't shy away from exploring this aspect of their careers, either. It's certainly not something that should bring shame. Rather, the freedom to live life as they saw fit is a great thing, and these pioneers of the professional world also helped usher in greater freedom for women in general. This is summed up well with the sharing of Helen Gurley Brown's favorite saying, "Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere."

For those of us who wish we'd been able to experience the jet age and its classier approach to travel, being reminded of the days when airlines turned out guide books with tips on how to get the most out of visiting one city or another, "Come Fly the World" is a slice of happy time travel. Hitting an excellent balance between the glory of that era and the realities and challenges of life for those who lived it, the author does an excellent job of letting us experience life from the perspective of some of those who were on the front lines of the age.

From the first American flights to Moscow and the stewardesses' watching out for KGB surveillance to experiencing Beirut before it was devastated, back when it was the jewel of the Mediterranean, these ladies had amazing experiences. Just reading about what they saw was an exciting trip. Pan Am is gone now, as are a number of its contemporaries, and travel looks different these days, for better or worse, but "Come Fly the World" is a great read, capturing that era of international travel and the experiences of women who changed not just their world but the face of society going forward.

This book is fascinating history of not only airline stewardesses, but aviation itself.  It follows several actual Pan Am Stewardesses, Lynn, Karen, Tori, Clare, and Hazel, and their glamorous and dangerous experiences during the turbulent times between 1965 and 1975.  Pan Am went from a mail carrier service to become the first international commercial airlines to travel across the Atlantic.  Pan Am became synonymous with extravagance and luxury and Pan Am stewardesses shared in that image.  In this book, she describes not only the sexual discrimination, but the weight, age and racial discrimination these women faced as well.      

When I started this book, I felt that the book cover was misleading.  However, I changed my mind after reading this book.  The average employment for these young women was 2 ½ years.  It was expected that as these beautiful young women matured and married, they could be replaced with vibrant younger ones to maintain the “fantasy” created by the Airlines.  This “fantasy” was definitely illustrated on the cover. 

All and all I would recommend to anyone with an interest in the aviation industry.

This was an excellent read. Not only a brief history of Pan Am flight attendants, but aviation in general. Lots of fun trivia about uniforms and training and routes. The author follows a few actual stewardesses through their careers in the 60s and 70s, involving the Vietnam baby lift and women’s rights and politics both domestic and abroad. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and can’t wait to tell my former Pam Am flight attendant aunt about it!

4.5 stars.  
Pan Am Airlines was one of the first U.S. airlines to offer the ability to fly internationally.  Back when flying was a huge treat, women were needed to serve passengers and maintain safety on the flights.  This is the history of those women, who they were, what they wanted and how they lived.  I have to admit that I didn't know a lot about the early years of the airline industry before this book.  It is full of all kinds of historical information, especially surrounding the Vietnam War years, that was utterly fascinating.  Following a handful of former flight attendants, this book is both personal and historical and is a complete delight to read.  I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have always been interested in the history of stewardess' ever since one of my friends told me that his mother was a flight attendant for Pan Am way back when (his words). He told me so many stories about what his mother went through working on the planes, especially after she got secretly married! So, I was excited to see this book on NetGalley. It was really good and it did not feel like information overload, like some history books can do. Instead, breaking it into the different stories of past stewardess' through the years was the best way to do it. We got the information we needed plus it was personal so we could connect with what these women went through, You could feel the excitement and freedom they had during a time where that was limited for women. I wanted to be right up in the sky with them. There were also heavy parts to the history that I did not know about before reading the book, especially about Hong Kong and the Vietnamese children! I hope everyone picks it up once it comes out!

Pan Am Airlines invited passengers to come fly the world - although they weren't the only US airline to fly internationally, they specialized in routes to Europe, Africa, and Asia. I was only 2 years old when the last Pan Am flight flew, and I really knew nothing about Pan Am before picking up this book. 

Don't let the cool cover image fool you - this book is not a scandalous tell-all (although there are some juicy moments!) Instead, Julia Cook interweaves the stories of stewardess like Lynne, Tori, and Karen with airline, cultural, and geopolitical history of the period. She covers the role of Pan Am in flying soldiers to and from Vietnam for their tours and R&R, as well as the incredible babylift stories from the end of the war. The feminist elements of the story are very striking - at a time when women could not have bank accounts in their own names, these stewardesses were pioneers in traveling the world. Reading this book was like flying to a new world, and I highly recommend it to those interested in history, feminism, and the 1960s/1970s. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, I really enjoyed reading  Come Fly The World, about Pan Am airlines in the 1960's. The cover was what attracted me to this book and I am so glad it did! I kept turning the pages, not wanting this to come to an end. I look forward to reading future books by Julia Cooke as I liked her writing style.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was the perfect escape. It was lovely and fun. It was my first book by this author and I will definitely be on the look out for more!!

I found the cover of this book misleading in what was between the covers. I thought it was going to be a light, gossipy read. Yes, A Coffee, Tea, or Me.

Boy, was I wrong. This is a fascinating dissertation of the real lives of Pan Am stewardesses in a time that was very different for women. I lived during those times so I knew them well. 

I couldnt get enough of this book. The Vietnam stories were hard to read because I remember those years so vividly. I really recommend this book. It is truly fascinating.

This is a history of Pan Am in the 1960s, and particularly several flight attendants who were involved in transporting Vietnam soldiers to R and R in Hong Kong, and eventually a massive baby rescue involving taking several hundred Vietnamese children to the US for adoption. Told by the "stewardesses" (as they were called in that time), the stories of travel and rescue, as well as life transitions for each, are riveting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the opportunity to read a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The description of this book was immediately appealing to me and I was expecting a very light read about the  early years of air travel and behind-the-scnenes- stories of flight attendants from that era.  I was surprised and delighted that it was so much more.  Author Julia Cooke found a very interesting way to follow the career trajectories of a handful of PanAm flight attendants and overlay their stories with contemporaneous events.  The descriptions of the flights taking soldiers into and out of combat in Vietnam and the Bablylift flights were particularly gripping.  Cooke also wove in the history of PanAm and the then-burgeoning airline industry in the 60s and 70s with the fights for equality in the workplace that were being waged at that time.  This is a multi-layered, fascinating book that will appeal to people on a variety of levels.  I am very excited to high recommend this book when it is published in March, 2021.

In 1979 I became a flight attendant for Pan Am, The ten years that I spent traveling the world were perhaps the most exciting of my life, and by far the greatest learning experience I have every had. The airline's demise was devastating for us and many of us remain connected through Facebook pages.  A number of books have been written by flight attendants, (including Pan Am flight attendants), and most of these have been on the frivolous side. 

When I saw Come Fly the World on NetGalley, I immediately wanted to read it, as belonging to Pan Am is to belong to a family. The book chronicles the lives of several Pan Am flight attendants as they joined the airline and journeyed around the world. What is different about these women is that their experiences are narrated with the backdrop of American history and the manner in which Pan Am was involved. For instance, Pan Am transported Vietnam Vets to and from their R&Rs in Hong Kong, and also airlifted children out of the country. Pan Am also was on the ground during coups, major conflicts, and other historical events. It was amazing to read about the experiences of these women, and to remember the places that I also traveled to and loved.

Most interesting and meaningful to me was that Tori, my primary flight attendant instructor in my initial training in Honolulu, is one of the women whose lives are chronicled in this book. I had not expected that.

If you are interested in learning more about the history of aviation juxtaposed with historical events over the past 50 years as well as the manner in which the career of flight attendants evolved in its initial years, then I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book prior to publication.  Come Fly the World: the Jet Age Story of the Women of Pan Am by Julia Cooke is a very interesting, behind the scenes look at what being a stewardess was like back in the day when they were called flight attendants.  There were no male stewards and a black stewardess was not very common.  During the mid 60's and 70s it was an exciting time to be a stewardess.  You were paid well and  were given the freedom to travel and live on your own in exotic, exciting locations.    It was also  the time period during the Vietnam War when Pan Am flew regular runs from Saigon to Hong Kong and back, carrying soldiers to and from their R&R with Pam Am stewardesses on board.  In fact, each stewardess was given a piece of paper saying they were second lieutenants in the US military in case they were captured, which gave them some protection under the Geneva Convention rules.  It is a well researched book and it provides lots of facts as well as fascinating stories about real life stewardesses like Lynne Totten, Karen Walker, Clare Christiansen and Hazel Brown.  It is well worth reading.