The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking
Embedding a 1972 skyjacking in the technical and international contexts of the phenomenon, Koerner recounts the incident through the life of its perpetrator. Like the protagonist of his previous title, Now the Hell Will Start (2008), Roger Holder was a black soldier with grievances against the army. Mining Holder’s paper trail in military, police, and legal records, and ultimately interviewing Holder himself, Koerner sets the scene when hijacking crept into Holder’s mind as a spectacular solution to his problems. Bringing his white girlfriend, Catherine Kerkow, along, he grandiosely aspired to strike a blow for revolution. He demanded money, the release of Angela Davis, and transport to Hanoi. Changing plans as his crime transpired, Holder instead settled for Algiers, intending to unite with Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver. Wearing out their welcome, Holder and Kerkow drifted to France, where the vogue for radical chic—their case was toasted by Joan Baez and Jean-Paul Sartre—still flourished. Following the threads to Holder’s death in 2012 and Kerkow’s disappearance, Koerner crafts thorough research into a perceptive, riveting presentation. --Gilbert Taylor--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.