Product Description

First published by NASA in 2000 as "Challenge to Apollo", this volume, together with a second volume entitled "Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge", presents a comprehensive history of the Soviet-manned space programmes covering a period of 30 years, from the end of World War II, when the Soviets captured German rocket technology, to the collapse of their moon programme in the mid-1970s. The spectacular Soviet successes of Sputnik - the first Earth satellite (1957) - and Yuri Gagarin - the first man in space (1961) - shocked US leaders and prompted President John F. Kennedy to set the goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s. The moon race culminated with the historic landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969 (coincidentally, the first Soviet unmanned moon probe crashed on its surface while the American astronauts were at Tranquility Base). The epic story of the Soviet space programme remained shrouded in secrecy until the unprecedented opening of top secret documents. Based almost entirely on these Russian-language sources and numerous interviews with veterans, Siddiqi's book breaks through the rumours, hearsay and speculation that characterized books on the Soviet space programme published during the Cold War years. Supplementing the text with dozens of previously classified photographs, he weaves together the technical, political and personal history of the major Soviet space programmes, providing the other side of the history of human space flight.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #758710 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Review
"The essential reference work for Soviet/Russian space history...for anyone hoping to make sense of the too many 'truths' of Soviet Space history." - Journal of Military History; "We finally have a definitive English-language history covering the first three decades of the Soviet Union's space program. Sixteen years in the making, Asif Siddiqi's amazingly detailed book provides a kaleidoscopic view of the technical and political evolution of Soviet missile and space projects....a veritable gold-mind of factual information." - Air Power History; "An extraordinary volume....This is not simply an account of one side of the space race. It is nothing less than the first full-scale, detailed explanation of how and why the Soviet Union led the world into space." - The Public Historian; "No space buff's library will be complete without this book. Readers will marvel at the complex interactions between design bureaus, and will enjoy getting to know the people behind the failed Soviet effort - a vital step toward putting Apollo's victory in context." - Smithsonian Air and Space; "Absolutely mandatory on the bookshelf of anyone interested in space." - Encyclopedia Astronautica

About the Author
Asif Siddiqi is a Ph.D. candidate in history at Carnegie Mellon University and author of Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes, 1958-2000.

Customer Reviews

So Near yet so Far
One of the frustrations of watching Apollo in the 60s and 70s was never knowing what the 'other side' were doing. Well, here's the answer and some of it is more than a little surprising.

I should start by saying what this book isn't: This is half of a book, not Volume 2. We start at page 517 and proceed to page 1005. Being the second half of the book, it includes the Tables and Appendices (over 100 pages of them) plus the index. The index actually covers the whole book which can be frustrating for those (like me) who only have this half.

The book also suffers in places from dreadful English, though the meaning is generally clear. It is also short on illustrations and the quality of those that are included is mediocre (no plates, just black and white photos included with the text).

So, having covered the negatives, I can now say that this is a fascinating book. It is apparently comprehensive and tells the story of how the lead in the space race slipped from the Soviets' grasp. Their lunar programme fragmented and, in the end, they just could not match NASA's supreme example and put a man on the moon. Sadly, they then tried to conceal the fact that they had even tried.

I was gripped by the in-fighting that gave them two parallel moon programmes (one to orbit, a different one to land) and frustrated as the N1 (the Soviet Saturn V) repeatedly failed its launch tests. As an engineer, I felt the urge to go back and bang heads together to make them focus - they were almost there!

I think this says much for the telling of the story. The rest, in the Tables and Appendices, shows the depth of work that has gone into this book; much of it is based on Russian material only made available in the 90s. It is half of the book but, in the end, that matters less than you might expect. This is a must-read for Apollo followers out there.

At last the story is told
After so many years of hearing garbled views and opinions on what exactly did go on in the Soviet space programme, this book provides an exhaustive history from the very genesis of Soviet rocketry to the failed Lunar quest and change in direction of the 70's. It's good to hear the stories of bravery and engineering genius involved, often under a difficult political climate, as opposed to the prevailing Western view which often paints the Soviets as not having the skills to execute complicated missions or being completely reactive to Western efforts.

For those who roundly criticize NASA and project Apollo (Dark side of the Moon for instance), here's the flipside showing what can happen without strong central administration. The main disappointment with this book is the lack of decent photography. Also, this quite a heavy academic read, so one for real enthusiasts.

Not Perfect But Worth the Effort
This book really does follow the first volume "Sputnik & The Soviet Space Challenge". It actually starts at Chapter 12 so you really should read the first volume before embarking on this book.

These books appear quite daunting at first with their small type but most pages have a large reference section at the bottom so there's not quite as much text to read as first meets the eye.

The story that unfolds is a fascinating insight into a closed & secretive world which, surprisingly, functioned at times in near chaos. Basically Apollo had twice the funding with a single goal whereas the Soviets were constantly developing multiple programs, often for the same objective!

Asif Siddiqi does tend to produce long lists of names of the personnel involved, which to be honest I tended to skip over when reading. There are only so many Russian names you can read.

My other criticism of the book was the sparsity of pictures & photographs. While there are photos & illutrations in the book, Siddiqi often describes details or machinery that I really wanted to see. In fact I often found myself looking for rockets & ships on Google to help me to understand exactly how things looked & worked.

These books do require some work but anyone interested in the Space Race will find them rewarding. I always wanted to find out how & why the Soviets lost their lead to the USA and now I know.