Star Trek Federation The first 150 years, is a must read for anyone interested in the mythology of the Star Trek universe. The book covers the future history of Earth and the origins of the FederationI from the end of WWII and Zefram Cochrame’s invention of the Earth’s 1st Warp capable spacecraft and that flight’s role in making 1st formal contact with the Vulcans to to the death of Captain Kirk. In term of the television shows and movies it covers the times from just before Enterprise, Star Trek, The Original Series, Star Trek the Animated Series, the movies Star Trek Generations, Star Trek The Motion Picture, The Wrath of Kahn, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home,The Final frontier,and The Undiscovered country. I loved this book. It was a fun read, and a must buy for any fan of the Star Trek Universe. i completed it in one day, and I wished there was more. This book reads like a serious history book. There is a definite bias in the book in that it favors the political interactions of the alien races over the technological achievements of the Federation. You will not find detailed plans of starships You will find insight into the actual first contacts between humans and Vulcans before Cochrane’s 1st contact.. There is an interesting piece on those contacts influenced how the Vulcan High Commanded viewed humans and dealt with them. Those early contacts were the rational for Vulcans role in delaying Earths development of a Warp 5 space ship and delaying her meeting other Warp capable civilizations . You will gain insights into the causes of and resolution the Earth Romulan War and how consequences of that war change Human Vulcan relations. The political fall out from the war formal transformed the lose and weak confederation of planets into the present day United Federation of Planets. The author takes the time to show how men and women, ambassadors , warriors and spies played key roles in shaping the Federation. Captain Kirk and Mr Spock are given due credit for their roles in Federation history. Mr Spock’s role in the Khitomer Accords that brought the klingon Empire into the Federation is also highlighted. I found this book fascinating. It is illustrated but those are secondary to the oral histories and insights found in the pages of this volume. The book has a fake bibliography. I wish the author had done more to connect those references to the episodes, books and movies they came from. That and a lack of an index are the books only major faults . This book is a must buy for a serious fan, and a get it from your library for the casual reader. ( )

Nice coffee-table book of the Original Timeline for Star Trek, covering Enterprise, TOS, the first seven movies, and hat-tips to later content. Absolutely not compatible with the Abrams movies.

Easter egg: Look at the second entry on page 170, in the bibliography. ( )