Product Description

On 20 July 1969, man set foot on the moon. Motivated by politics, faith, science and wonder, the Apollo 11 mission was the greatest technical achievement of all time. It was the culmination of over a decade’s worth of money and effort from more than 400,000 staff and crew.

Rocket Men follows the astounding story of the lunar project, beginning at its inception at the start of the Cold War and tracing it through to its finest hour with the first moon landing and the astronauts’ safe return. Through extensive interviews with astronauts, NASA staff and their families and never-before published documents, Craig Nelson presents an awe-inspiring human account of the voyage that changed the course of history. He takes us behind the scenes at Mission Control to describe every detail of the mission, from the astronauts’ moon excursion suits, which had five hundred parts and weighed no less than fifty pounds, to terrifying revelations, such as how Armstrong and Aldrin could have been left stranded on the moon when a vital switch snapped on the landing craft.

Rocket Men is the inside story of one of the most perilous and rewarding undertakings in history.

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43286 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

Review

'I was there, kneeling, unable to breathe, before a television screen, watching Armstrong step off Eagle onto the regolith. I read [Rocket Men] in the same mood of boyhood wonder. So should you'

(Sunday Times )

'Spectacular'

(Vanity Fair )

'With Nelson’s impeccable research, his ability to tie the myriad strings of the space race into a coherent whole and the power of the story itself, Rocket Men should be at the top of your book list'

(New Scientist )

‘Anyone with an ounce of poetry in their soul would have to concede that reaching the moon really was a giant leap for mankind. For the sheer drama, majesty and improbability of it all, it’s a story that will be told time and time again. But rarely as well as this’

(The Sunday Business Post )

‘Rocket Men is particularly good at unpicking the tangle of motives behind kennedy’s decision to send a man to the moon ... A punchy, popular history ... gripping, geekily detailed accounts of what it was like to ride a Saturn V or walk on another planet are interspersed with an equally lively take on the cold war strategising behind the mission'

(Financial Times )

'A fascinating and definitive history of the race to the moon'

(Economist )

'Rocket Men is particularly good because it tells the story so coherently'

(BBC Focus )

'Rocket Men is an excellent read'

(The Daily Telegraph )

'Refreshingly relevant and readable . . . absorbing'

(Times Literary Supplement )

About the Author

Craig Nelson is the author of The First Heroes and Thomas Paine, which won the 2007 Henry Adams Prize for the year’s best book on history and government. His writing has appeared in many publications and he has been profiled in Variety, Interview, Publishers Weekly and Time Out. He lives in Greenwich Village, New York.

---

Customer Reviews

Completeness
This book is the perfect one stop shop for people wanting to read the full story behind the Apollo 11 mission. It is thorough and yet very readable. There are many moments when you will gasp at the enormity of what was achieved, marvel at the genius behind the machinery and be left in awe at what humanity is capable of. It was truly an astounding accomplishment and this book communicates that fact in a competent and thorough manner. A must read if you are interested in the 'race to the moon'.

Entralling insider account - indespensible reading
Sorry to gush but this was a really great read. The way its told, with quotes from the people involved, really brings this to life. There is plenty of techncial detail as well but what comes across from this book was the people involved. Its made the whole wonder of the Apollo story personal and really seemed to give you the hopes and fears of the all the 400,000 involved. I really like the achknowlegment that the three astronauts of Apoolo 11 were the 'tip of the spear' and it took years of hard work to make the whole thing happen.

I remember watching the pictures from the Apollo 11 moon landing and being fascinated. This book gives you how it happened, who made it happen and just how seat ofthe pants it really was. Boys Own stuff indeed - read this and see just what we can do if we try hard enough

To The Point And Highly Readable
Rocketmen is one of those deceptively big books, both in gross word count and subject matter, that is highly readable. It covers the entire US space program right from Goddard and the German wartime rocket development to the first men on the moon.

The engineering, the science, the politics and the people behind the space program and the space race are examined, with some details filled in on the Soviet program as well as the blow-by-blow account of the NASA end of things.

If you have any interest in the subject you'll tear through the book.