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Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965 (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of S)

Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965 (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of S)
By Francis French, Colin Burgess

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It was a time of bold new technology, historic moments, and international jousting on the final frontier. But it was also a time of human drama, of moments less public but no less dramatic in the lives of those who made the golden age of space flight happen. These are the moments and the lives that Into That Silent Sea captures, a book that tells the intimate stories of the men and women, American and Russian, who made the space race their own and gave the era its compelling character.
 
These pages chronicle a varied and riveting cavalcade of human stories, including a look at Yuri Gagarin’s harrowing childhood in war-ravaged Russia and Alan Shepard’s firm purchase on the American dream. It also examines the controversial career of cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, and the remarkable struggle and ultimate disappointment of her American counterparts. It tries to uncover the truth behind the allegations that shadowed Gus Grissom and Scott Carpenter and then allows the reader to share the heart-stopping suspense of Alexei Leonov’s near-fatal first space walk. Through dozens of interviews and access to Russian and American official documents and family records, the authors bring to life the experiences that shaped the lives of the first astronauts and cosmonauts and forever changed their world and ours.
 
(20060427)

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #552610 in Books
  • Published on: 2007-04-23
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 402 pages

Features

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Longer on biography than on technology, this account of the first space farers will appeal to spaceflight buffs. And in a subject densely populated with memoirs by its principal figures, French and Burgess have generated new material from their own interviews with some of the pioneering astronauts and cosmonauts. In addition, the authors incorporate the recollections of nurse Dee O'Hara, who worked with the Mercury astronauts, and of American aviatrixes involved in a program, little known today, that might have but ultimately did not produce the first female in space. That accolade more famously went in 1963 to Valentina Tereshkova, whose upbringing, attraction to aeronautics, life-changing flight, and postflight career represent the pattern in which the authors present the dozen-plus individuals who structure their text. Tracking the firsts in space history, like Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard, followed by the seconds, such as Gherman Titov and Virgil Grissom, French and Burgess' history will engage the space-program audience. A sequel is slated for publication later in 2007, covering the years 1965-69. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Eminently readable, well-crafted... The merits of this popular history rest in the elegant narrative and the authors' thoughtful awareness of the space explorer genre." Air & Space Smithsonian "Accessible to both newcomers to space history and well-read enthusiasts alike." Space Review "[Into That Silent Sea] dispenses with distracting technical jargon and nationalistic jingoism to deliver ten superbly composed, thoughtfully balanced chapters about the astronauts and cosmonauts who flew Mercury and Vostok/Voskhod missions... Avid readers will revel in the authors' masterful compilation of these straight-forward, detailed mini-biographies." Air Power History "Unforgettable days and some unforgettable characters were brought vividly back to me by this truly wonderful book. They were fun times; they were also incredibly difficult, hard-working, and agonizing times, watching dear friends launch into space with my heart in my mouth. This book offers a treasure trove of memories." Dee O'Hara, nurse to the astronauts "As well as vividly picturing the men, this book also accurately tells the story of the very first women to train for spaceflight in Russia---and women like me in America who hoped for the same opportunity to reach for the stars." Wally Funk, rocket pilot for Interorbital Systems Corporation "This frank, entertaining, no-holds-barred ride through the golden age of space flight takes us behind the official stories, into the real lives of the very first astronauts and cosmonauts." Wally Schirra: Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronaut

Review
"[Into That Silent Sea] dispenses with distracting technical jargon and nationalistic jingoism to deliver ten superbly composed, thoughtfully balanced chapters about the astronauts and cosmonauts who flew Mercury and Vostok/Voskhod missions. . . . Avid readers will revel in the authors' masterful compilation of these straight-forward, detailed mini-biographies."-Air Power History (Dr. Rick W. Sturdevant Air Power History 20060427)

"Unforgettable days and some unforgettable characters were brought vividly back to me by this truly wonderful book. They were fun times; they were also incredibly difficult, hard-working, and agonizing times, watching dear friends launch into space with my heart in my mouth. This book offers a treasure trove of memories."-Dee O'Hara, nurse to the astronauts (Dee O'Hara 20071001)

"As well as vividly picturing the men, this book also accurately tells the story of the very first women to train for spaceflight in Russia-and women like me in America who hoped for the same opportunity to reach for the stars."-Wally Funk, rocket pilot for Interorbital Systems Corporation (Wally Funk 20070627)

"Eminently readable, well-crafted. . . . The merits of this popular history rest in the elegant narrative and the authors' thoughtful awareness of the space explorer genre."-Air & Space Smithsonian (Martin Collins Air & Space Smithsonian 20060427)

"Eminently readable, well-crafted. . . . The merits of this popular history rest in the elegant narrative and the authors' thoughtful awareness of the space explorer genre."-Air & Space Smithsonian (The Space Review (website) )

"French and Burgess's history will engage the space-program audience."-Booklist (Booklist )

"A well-written account about the Americans and Russians who were the first to fly into space. . . . [The book] offers some excellent profiles of these individuals that are accessible to both newcomers to space history and well-read enthusiasts alike."-Space Review (Space Review )

"Into That Silent Sea is an excellent reminder of just what Gagarin and other trailblazers did and how they became international celebrities in their own right. We seem to have forgotten just how new the frontier of space was. . . . Many people today seem to view space programs as an extravagance or with disinterest. For those who remain interested in those programs and have read the prior histories and memoirs, it never hurts to be reminded of just how pioneering the first steps were."-Tim Gebhart, Blogcritics.org, Boston.com (Blogcritics.org )

"This frank, entertaining, no-holds-barred ride through the golden age of space flight takes us behind the official stories, into the real lives of the very first astronauts and cosmonauts."-Wally Schirra: Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronaut (Wally Schirra )

Customer Reviews

Great stories from one who lived with the Space Program5
I grew up in the American manned space program so tend to be somewhat jaded by some of the "outsider" accounts of what went on in the early years. But this book was full of pleasant surprises with both lesser-known facts about the well-recognized astronauts and detailed important information about the lesser-known, such as the cosmonauts and those who wanted to become astronauts. The book humanized the Russian program as well as our own. This is the first social history of that narrow time frame that I have seen. There were enough engineering facts to make sense out of what was going on at the time, but focused more on the personal lives of the trailblazers and the impact they made on society. I would highly recommend this to space buffs, historians and sociologists. I was especially interested in the cosmonaut stories and the chapter about the two Wallys.

Into That Silent Sea5
I am an Apollo astronaut who entered the space program in 1966, and I knew and worked with most of the Americans that are profiled in this book. In the intervening years I have met most of the Russians also profiled. I was in the space business for many years, including making a flight to the moon on Apollo 15 in 1971, ten years after Alan Shepard made his historic flight. This book is a wonderful history of the original pioneers in space. I could not put it down once I started. French and Burgess have a great touch when it comes to writing. I found it especially interesting when reading about the Russian program and the men and women selected for their spaceflights. The book clearly and engrossingly explains the differences between the Russian Cosmonauts and the American Astronauts, including fascinating personal details of how they were selected, trained and carried on their flights. I found the book a great source of new information that was both well documented and thoroughly fascinating to read - in fact, I believe it is deserving of winning some awards. Before I flew in space, these men and women in America and Russia paved the way and were my personal heros. If you want to know who they were, then this is the book.

A great read!5
This book is just plain terrific! It is beautifully written and the attention to detail is impressive. It is packed with information and facts not generally known. The authors writing style is easy to read and the facts are told in a very straight-forward manner. I loved that they cleared up many untruths about the Grissom and Carpenter fights. It is evident the authors had no hidden agenda and I found that very refreshing. I especially enjoyed the in-depth stories regarding the russian missions. Really, really good!!

This book was definitely a "trip down memory lane" for me and I loved it. I can't wait until the next one in this series comes out. If you are a space fan - you will love this book.