Early each summer, rowing enthusiasts flocked to the Hudson Valley and crowded the banks of the Hudson River between Highland and Poughkeepsie, New York, to get a glimpse of the biggest intercollegiate event of its kind. In 1895, Cornell University, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania organized a contest that continued for over 50 years in this historic location. Over its tenure on the Hudson River, other universities joined in the competition, including the famous 1936 University of Washington "Boys in the Boat." At its height, 12 universities vied for supremacy at the regatta with thousands of spectators looking on. Boathouses were built on both sides of the river with "Regatta Row" on the eastern shore at the center of it all. A legacy of rowing began on this famous four-mile stretch and inspired crews to continue rowing here today.

In the 1920s, an upstart West Coast college began to challenge the Eastern universities in the ancient sport of crew racing. Sportswriters scoffed at the “crude western boats” and their crews. But for the next forty years, the University of Washington dominated rowing around the world. The secret of the Huskies’ success was George Pocock, a soft-spoken English immigrant raised on the banks of the Thames. Pocock combined perfectionism with innovation to make the lightest, best-balanced, fastest shells the world had ever seen. After studying the magnificent canoes built by Northwest Indians, he broke with tradition and began to make shells of native cedar. Pocock, who had been a champion sculler in his youth, never credited his boats for the accomplishments of a crew. He wanted every rower to share his vision of discipline and teamwork. As rowers from the University of Washington went on to become coaches at major universities across the country, Pocock’s philosophy—and his shells—became nationally famous in the world of crew. Drawing on documents provided by Pocock’s family, photographs from the University of Washington Crew Archives, and interviews with rowers who revered the man, Newell evokes the times as well as the life of this unique figure in American sport.

Empire of the Air tells the story of three American visionaries—Lee de Forest, Edwin Howard Armstrong, and David Sarnoff—whose imagination and dreams turned a hobbyist's toy into radio, launching the modern communications age. Tom Lewis weaves the story of these men and their achievements into a richly detailed and moving narrative that spans the first half of the twentieth century, a time when the American romance with science and technology was at its peak. Empire of the Air is a tale of pioneers on the frontier of a new technology, of American entrepreneurial spirit, and of the tragic collision between inventor and corporation.