I like to think that every time you read a book, you learn something. I usually read fiction, and I think I learn a lot from it. I learn about the human condition, about how people interact, and about the power of language. I’m always amazed at how putting words down on paper in a certain way can spark the imagination, or make the heart soar.

I like biography and memoir, too. There’s nothing stranger than truth, and everyone on the planet has a compelling story, if that story is given a voice.

And then there’s straight non-fiction, the most obvious genre for learning. It’s all about facts. For some reason, I’m less drawn to these sorts of books, but am always grateful after I’ve read one, for the additional knowledge I’ve gained.

Such a book is John Newhouse’s Boeing Versus Airbus. Subtitled “The Inside Story of the Greatest International Competition in Business,” the book’s cover shows a blue sky with a puffy cloud, and two jets, nose to nose.

Newhouse spent years covering foreign policy for “The New Yorker,” and served as a senior policy adviser for European affairs in the U.S. State Department during the Clinton administration. He has written nine books. Another on the aviation industry, The Sporty Game, explores the high-risk competitive business of making and selling commercial airliners.

In Boeing Versus Airbus, Newhouse describes the struggle for supremacy between the two biggest players in the aircraft industry. In researching the book, Newhouse was able to interview many insiders — company leaders and engineers — as well as industry analysts from Wall Street and the media. Some of his sources remain anonymous, but plenty go on the record, and some of what’s revealed is downright gossipy.

Newhouse writes, “An existential pendulum governs the fortunes of the companies that struggle to gain an edge in this unsteady business.” He also says that the trade of building and selling airplanes is one that “draws heavily on instinct and seat-of-the-pants decisions.”

While many people give much weight to the subsidies, Airbus receives from the consortium of governments that back it, Newhouse points out that Boeing makes up for its lack of direct subsidies by 1) receiving federal research grants for its military work, 2) getting tax credits for exporters, and 3) receiving indirect subsidies from the Japanese government backing Boeing’s suppliers, since Boeing has started outsourcing much of its work to Japan.

“The divergent fortunes of Airbus and Boeing since the 1980s had far less to do with government support than with how the two companies competed in an unforgiving business,” writes Newhouse.

Newhouse gives comprehensive coverage to Boeing’s struggles to maintain its long-held top position following its merger with McDonnell Douglas (“McDac” in industry lingo), its change of headquarters from Seattle to Chicago, and its series of corporate scandals. Capitalizing on this chaos, Airbus was able to gain ascendancy in the late 1990s, but by 2005 began to stumble and is now losing ground fast. According to Newhouse, Boeing’s new midsize plane, the 787 “Dreamliner” has proved a “game-changer,” while Airbus’ new superjumbo, the A380, is fraught with problems connected to its huge size. Newhouse says the history of the two companies’ competition illustrates “the impermanence of advantage.”

There are a lot of interesting facts in this book, all of which I found fascinating. Some examples: Airline traffic is expected to triple over the next 20 years. The strategic thinking of both Airbus and Boeing is driven by the Asian market. India is considered the hottest growth market. Almost half of all U.S. aircraft are leased, rather than purchased outright. In “legacy” airlines, (as opposed to low-cost carriers like Southwest or JetBlue) pilots are paid by the weight of the aircraft they fly. Airplane engines consume two or three times their value in spare parts over their lifetime. Over the past five decades, Boeing has been the United States’ largest single exporter and earner of foreign capital.

So, if your brain needs a rest from the subtleties of fiction or the drama of personal histories, give Boeing Versus Airbus a try. It’s on the dry side, but you’ll be smarter for having read it.

Breck Longstreth can be reached at breckonbooks@yahoo.com.