Rocket Men

January 1, 2018
With the 50th anniversary of the trailblazing Apollo 8 mission approaching in December 2018, Kurson (Pirate Hunters) affably reminds readers of the days when America’s dreams and goals lay far beyond Earth’s surface. Kurson sets the stage swiftly: President Kennedy had promised in 1961 that U.S. astronauts would land on the moon, but as the decade drew to a close, the Soviet Union remained the unquestionable leader of the space race. After the CIA reported that cosmonauts planned a lunar flyby late in 1968, NASA altered Apollo 8’s mission. Instead of orbiting the Earth, astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders would fly to the moon, orbit, and return. This was an especially challenging journey, because the August announcement meant that NASA’s astronauts and engineers had only four months to prepare. Kurson effectively recreates the era, recalling the tumult of a changing nation, as well as the tension felt by those involved both on Earth and in space, of a mission with little margin for error. Kurson writes in clear, simple language, avoiding technical matters and cryptic NASA jargon to focus on the people involved. Fans of explorers and adventurers will enjoy Kurson’s vibrant, accessible history. Agent: Philippa Brophy, Sterling Lord Literistic.

February 1, 2018
An exuberant history of a major turning point in early American spaceflight, possibly "the riskiest and most thrilling of all the Apollo missions."Man's first flight to the moon occurred seven months before the actual landing. While not ignored, the Apollo 8 mission has never achieved the iconic status of Apollo 11. This enthusiastic account aims to remind readers of its significance. "This is the best space story of all, I thought, and I wasn't the only one," writes journalist Kurson (Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship, 2015, etc.). He notes that after the national horror at the 1957 launch of Sputnik, everyone assumed that the Soviet Union enjoyed technical superiority and was racing to beat us to the moon. In fact, only the latter was true. Kurson opens the narrative in summer 1968 with a top-secret intelligence report that the Soviets might attempt a manned circumlunar flight by year's end. The Apollo mission was scheduled for 1969, but George Low, one official, maintained that the U.S. could match the Soviets. Some NASA leaders objected, and almost everyone agreed that "Sending Apollo 8 to the moon in December might be the boldest and riskiest and most important mission NASA ever attempted." Since beating the Soviets to the moon was Apollo's purpose, it had to be tried. The author offers biographies of those involved, a nuts-and-bolts account of four months of training and the flight itself, which was not without glitches, and digressions into events of 1968 America, torn by strife over civil rights and the Vietnam War. Most readers know how the story turned out, so Kurson strains to generate suspense, and space buffs will quickly realize that this is a journalistic account aimed at a mass audience (clue: the astronauts' courtships and family lives receive prominent attention).An overly breathless yet entertaining account of a pioneering space mission that deserves to be better known.

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May 28, 2018
Voice actor Porter effortlessly captures the full swing of events that led America to surpass the Soviet Union in the race to be the first country to orbit moon. Set against the backdrop of Vietnam War protests and racial tensions following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the story centers on the three astronauts picked to head the excursion. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders, along with a team of NASA engineers, planned and executed the mission in the span of four months. Porter fully captures the thrill of pulling together the risky Apollo mission, in which the slightest miscalculation could have meant death for the three-man crew. Whether laying out the technical specs of a rocket, conveying the human interactions between the astronauts and their families, or recreating in-flight banter between the crew, Porter’s narration is highly engaging. Skillfully rendered by Porter, this is an epic tale of American triumph. A Random House hardcover.

March 1, 2018
Coming out about a year after Jeffrey Kluger's Apollo 8, Kurson's account of the first space mission to orbit the moon naturally covers much of the same territory: the hectic preparations for the launch of Apollo 8 (which was hastily converted from an Earth-orbital mission to a lunar-orbital mission), the mission itself, and its aftermath. This is a fine book, a solidly written story of adventure and heroism, and it would be a shame if it were overlooked simply because Kluger's book already exists. Kurson has a good dramatic storytelling style ( Looking back down toward his spacecraft, Borman gave thanks to the scalded machine, an exquisite piece of design and daring ), and his portrayals of the pioneering astronauts, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders (all of whom were interviewed by the author), turns these men from historical figures into real people. The book is proof that there's room in the marketplace for more than one book about a well-known event.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

Starred review from January 1, 2018

Many are familiar with the stories of Apollo 11 and the pioneers who took "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" on the moon, and of Apollo 13 and the astronauts who survived an explosion on their spacecraft while circumnavigating the moon. Yet, less widely known but equally gripping, is the account of Apollo 8 and the three bold men who were the first to orbit earth's lunar companion. Kurson (Shadow Divers) recounts the historically significant mission, which served as a crucial test run for the eventual landing on the moon and was noted for capturing the famous "Earthrise" photograph. He frames this well-researched story with an overview of the events that shaped the year leading up to the December 1968 launch, including the Vietnam War and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. At the heart of Kurson's narrative are astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders, and their families. However, unlike Robert Zimmerman's Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, Kurson does not delve extensively into the religious views of the astronauts. VERDICT Space buffs will enjoy this accessible and engaging account of human ingenuity and exploration.--Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL

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