When labor historians construct lists of the ten most important strikes in United States history, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers' (PATCO) strike of August 1981 is certain to claim a prominent spot. Many labor activists and scholars of the contemporary labor movement see Ronald Reagan's firing of more than eleven thousand striking air traffic controllers as a sort of fall from grace, the beginning of the decline of the labor movement. To be sure, there are others who would disagree with them, but all would concur that this strike was of major historic significance. Therefore, it is surprising that this is the first book-length scholarly treatment of the strike. The author, Willis Nordlund, is Dean of the School of Business at the College of West Virginia, a veteran United States Department of Labor staff person, and a multiengine, instrument-rated pilot. Silent Skies bears the imprint of his background.