Close to the Sun is an in-depth, fast-paced, and highly readable history of Airbus, the pan-European consortium that has edged past Boeing to become the world leader in aerospace. In doing so, Airbus has achieved preeminence in a field that’s been dominated by U.S. companies since the first flight of the Wright brothers. Airbus’s history, and especially the story of its competition with its American rivals, is a vivid illumination of how giant conglomerates compete around the world, in an arena distinguished by high international politics and billion-dollar gambles in cutting-edge technology. It’s one of the most important stories today that illustrates how globalization is changing the international business landscape.