Countdown: A History of Space Flight

T. A. Heppenheimer’s acclaimed chronicle of rockets, politics, and the pioneers who dared to reach beyond humanity’s limits. The most comprehensive, up-to-date, and best written history of space flight there is. -The Times (London) A lively account of the development of space activities in the U.S. and the Soviet Union …as good a one-volume overview of space as exists. -Scientific American. Countdown is by far the best history of space flight I have ever read. It is detailed, lucidly written for the layman, and full of fascinating stories.-Adrian Berry, Daily Telegraph. Science writer Heppenheimer’s readable account provides a timely historical overview of the early visionaries, the engineers, and the geopolitical forces that placed men on the moon and created today’s aerospace industry…A thoughtful analysis that is highly recommended.-Library Journal. By far the most significant and technically insightful account of the ventures into the space environment I have seen…[Heppenheimer] concentrates unerringly on key elements, both technical and managerial, in this account of man’s initial space ventures.
-Lee Atwood, Former president and chairman, North American Aviation Corporation. Like a skilled artisan, Heppenheimer weaves social, political, scientific, technological, military, and economic threads of the history of space flight into a tapestry that reveals fascinating patterns and themes. -Publishers Weekly