Stephen Walker (1)Rezensionen

Written in a very engaging way and based on solid research, this book describes the international context for Yuri Gagarin's first human space flight, the flight itself and its aftermath.

Brilliant History of Man in Space½

After recently reading “Mercury Rising” about the early days of the American manned space program (Book #69) this book provides an equally fascinating insight into what was happening on the other side of the so-called space race.

Walker does an excellent job in contrasting and comparing the approaches of USA and USSR to launching a man into space. But the focus of the book is firmly on the formerly hidden people behind the successful mission to put a man into orbit.

While it’s a story influenced by technological innovation and political meddling (on both sides of the Iron Curtain) it is above all a very human story, and one which Walker tells superbly.

This is a must read if you have any interest in the history of space exploration.

Fantastic history! Eminently readable, a total page-turner. I learned lots about the Russian space program, and Walker does a good job integrating some well-written and well-curated stories about the American program in as well.

> ‘I got on the project because it will probably be the closest to heaven I’ll ever get,’ he joked, and the room dissolved. Glenn was an instant star.

> approximately one twentieth of the Mercury astronauts’ salaries along with their Life monies. At one point Tamara Titova and two other wives found themselves polishing other people’s floors just to make ends meet. And while Alan Shepard and some of his fellow astronauts were racing their latest-model Corvettes up and down Cocoa Beach, Gagarin and his fellow cosmonauts were taking the bus or train in Chkalovsky. None of them could afford a car.

> ‘The men were doing some very complicated exercises on these trampolines, not up to circus standards, perhaps, but their performance was neat, bold and certain.’

> unlike the Mercury capsule, the Vostok was too heavy to land safely beneath its own parachute with a human inside. The only way for them to get home was therefore to eject from the Vostok in the final minutes of descent and parachute independently to the ground.

This is one of those books that reminds me, once again, of how much the general media (and school text books) have left out about important events. This particular volume covers multiple characters and perspectives of the people involved in and affected by the assembly and delivery of the first atomic bomb. It includes the scientists, the military personnel, the diplomats, the civilians, from multiple countries, and often reads like a mystery novel chewing through the "facts" of the case. On occasion, it seems almost too detailed, such as when it goes into some of the Japanese living in Hiroshima. I found myself asking, "Do I really care if Sunao had ever kissed or not kissed Reiko?", and similar seemingly incidental people and incidental situations. However, later, after the bomb is actually dropped and the reader has learned what happened with the bomber crew, and Truman, and the rest of the non-Hiroshima characters, the author takes you down to those same "common" folk in Hiroshima that were introduced earlier. Are you a "Walking Dead" or other zombie-type movie fan? Those shows are child's play compared to what actually happened in Hiroshima. Even so, I wonder how much more accepting today's population would be of seeing the after-effects of an atomic bomb blast compared to the 1945 population. The actual human impact of the bomb blast and the rationale given for completing that action is the main reason for reading this book. I should add that there's a scene in the book after the bomb blast in which it starts raining in Hiroshima. In just a few words, the author crafts perhaps the most chilling situation I could possibly image.

What a great find. i have read a lot about the nuclear age, but had not stumbled on this book. Thankfully it was mentioned in an article I recently read. Well worth the read. A gripping telling from multiple perspectives, of the work and prep up to the Hiroshima event. Really good.½

A mind blowing and comprehensive read detailing the three weeks leading up to and including the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima. The descriptions both of the first atomic bomb test and what the bomb did to Hiroshima elicited a visceral reaction.½

This account of the days leading up to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima is in the tradition of John Hersey's classic Hiroshima and complements the definitive history of the Manhattan Project, The Making Of The Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes.