David West Reynolds cornered the Apollo market when he was able to get two former astronauts and a Smithsonian Air and Space Museum curator to contribute to his historical look at the race for space. In addition he used amazing photographs! Reynolds carefully outlines the humble beginnings of man's desire to launch into space, giving credit to Jules Verne as the man responsible for sparking the imagination of men who dared to dream the impossible. The frantic competition was heightened after John F. Kennedy was elected president and he promised American citizens we would reach the moon by 1970. Kennedy's subsequent assassination was the driving force to make that promise a reality. Reynolds states the entire nation was held responsible for Kennedy's dream.
But, this is a gorgeous book, filled with interesting facts and photographs taken from beginning to end; from the Mercury and Sputnik to Apollo and Vostok missions. ( )

The Apollo lunar landings are, one would have thought, the perfect subject for a big copiously-illustrated coffee-table book. After all, it was a unique achievement, many people alive today still remember it vividly, and NASA documented it thoroughly – taking thousands of photographs, thousands of feet of film, and writing millions of words. Yet there are few such books available. Piers Bizony’s One Giant Leap – Apollo 11 Forty Years On is one, but it was published only last year as part of the fortieth celebration of the first lunar landing. Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon by David West Reynolds is another. It was first published in 2002.

Like most books of its type, Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon opens with a couple of chapters introducing rocketry and the various pioneers of the field – Tsiolkovsky, Oberth, Goddard… But, of course, it is Wernher von Braun who comes to dominate post-war rocketry, and Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon also includes a section on his Collier’s articles from 1952 to 1954, with artwork. The book then moves swiftly through Mercury and Gemini, and onto the Apollo programme. The Soviet achievements are mentioned, but only inasmuch as they reflected on the US space programme.

For rest of review: http://spacebookspace.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/apollo-the-epic-journey-to-the-mo... ( )

great photos ( )

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