The 2013 merger of American Airlines and US Airways marked a major step in the consolidation of the U.S. airline industry. A young management team that began plotting mergers a decade earlier designed a brilliant strategy to seize an industry prize. In doing so, it enlisted the help of unions who engineered one of the labor movement's biggest corporate victories. The airlines' histories and the inside story of the takeover is told by two veteran airline reporters.

A casebook that discusses all the mega mergers and acquisitions in terms of value, that have happened in different industry sectors such as pharmacy, technology, telecommunications, media and entertainment, electrical and electronics, energy, finance, consumer goods, metals, and automobile and airlines.

On December 4, 1753, Gen. George Washington traveled to the junction of the Allegheny River and French Creek during one of his military excursions. There, the settlement was called Venango but soon became known as Franklin. Established in the heart of the original oil country in the 1740s, Franklin is the seat of Venango County. Once referred to as "the Nursery of Great Men," it boasts a rich history of industry and railroads. Franklin's historic district, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, includes businesses that have been staples in the city for over 100 years, such as Feldman Jewelers and Anderson Furniture. Today, Franklin takes great pride in its history and heritage. Franklin's annual Applefest, the largest craft festival in western Pennsylvania, honors the travels of Johnny Appleseed, who planted his trees throughout the town during his journeys, and the bridge that spans the confluence of the Allegheny and French Creek is still known as Washington Crossing.