Customer Reviews

The All-American Boys

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Walter Cunningham is at it again, his first All American Boys book was a great hit and now the up dated edition with much added material. Any person interested in space and the lives of our astronauts will enjoy reading over and over again. The book will become a great collectors edition to any book collection on space and the men that risk their lives to go there. The book goes where no man has gone before, into the lives of our first astronauts and into the future of space travel. Walt tells a story of how it felt to be on the NASA team of astronauts and how the public and the press treated them. Walter Cunningham was as close as you can get to what was one of our first space program disasters being on the back up crew of Apollo 1. You can only wonder what it must have felt like for him to be on the back up crew of Apollo 1. What it must have felt like to be strapped into Apollo 7 with the memories of the men before him that gave their lives. Cunningham talks about this in the new edition along with the Challenger and Columbia disaster and where we go from here. This book is a must read book. Larry Hobson-Author "The Day Of The Rose"

I have to admit that my favorite of the astronaut books is Mike Collins' "Carrying the Fire", but I think "The All-American Boys" has to be second. This book is essentially the personal observations and reflections from within the Gemini and (mostly) Apollo programs, and as an external bystander from the early days of the Shuttle until now. What I like about the book is Cunningham's candor, a trait he was always know for within the program, and willingness to discuss the less glamorous, and less appreciated aspects of an astronaut's life in the 1960s.

Generally this type of book is fairly sanitized, and results in a glossy, picture perfect view of the Apollo program and its participants. Here Cunningham tells the story without pulling any punches. He attempts to give everyone their due, but in the end if he has negative information to convey he doesn't shirk from it. Others may disagree with his opinions (I do in a few instances: for example, I think he is unduly hard on Armstrong and Scott for their handling of their Gemini thruster problem), but he makes it clear at the outset that these are his views, and not the official party line. Many come out better than their average perceptions in the public (mostly because so many of these names are now generally forgotten), guys like Bill Anders and Rusty Schweickart, who really did some of the early pioneering that allowed the Apollo 11 and subsequent successes. Certainly the depiction of Conrad and Bean is very sympathetic, and reinforces their good guy personas with more detail devoted to their contributions than they normally get. Many come out worse, in some cases much, much worse. Many (but not all) of the Mercury 7 come across as self important, pompous windbags. I was particularly annoyed by Wally Schirra during the Apollo 7 mission. I had actually believed the position that Cunningham takes, namely that he and Eisele were trying largely to be team players while Wally was the one with the "Bull Moose Complex" (Cunningham's words) and temper that made the mission so agonizing for everyone, especially the ground controllers. Certainly Chris Kraft comes out as a very competent, but egotistical manager, and it still seems unfair that especially Cunningham's career was cut short largely through Kraft's efforts when he was really being painted with the same brush as Wally. (Donn Eisele also got a bit testy with the controllers, but Cunningham always showed restraint and deference. That has been established in numerous sources other than his own book.)

Cunningham does not pretend to be perfect, and admits to shortcomings, while giving credit where it is due. He makes no bones about it, for instance, that he thinks Armstrong and Scott mishandled the Gemini thruster situation, by jumping to quickly to an emergency measure that scrubbed the remainder of the mission too quickly (I disagree), but also goes on to say that nobody could have flown the Apollo 11 landing better than Armstrong (I agree). Likewise he says that Scott's Apollo 15 landing was the best scientific exploration of the moon in the entire series. This dichotomy explains in a nutshell why I liked the book: Cunningham is unafraid to critique a performance, yet will turn around and give the same person kudos for other events. In other words, he recognizes and addresses the fundamental truth that each human has individual strengths and weaknesses.

Particularly illuminating are his views on post-Apollo NASA, a giant bureaucracy that is slow to do anything and serves more as a political rather than a technical organization, especially under Dan Goldin in the Clinton years. The International Space Station, vis-a-vis Russian participation, particularly, is held up for scrutiny as the debacle it has become. Also discussed are institutional safety problems in the agency that led to the Challenger and Columbia accidents (Did we learn nothing from Apollo 1?), and the political appointment of astronauts based on politically correct social theories rather than professional competence.

In summary, this book, along with "Carrying the Fire" are the two books by Apollo astronauts that actually show insight into the program from the inside. Read them both, they will greatly expand your understanding of what made Apollo great.

After reading Mr. Cunninghams book and working for NASA for a very long time, I understand where he's coming from. His book is right on, and then I read this persons review and see the reviewer hasn't got a clue to how NASA operates. Things were very different when Walt was one of our first true hero's. The reviewer stated that the book doesn't state true facts, they claims they are in criminology. Well they better stay there and learn a little more about space and the space programs and how the space program operates. I would highly recommend this book to everyone that wants the true facts.

I read The All-American Boys when it was first released and found it to be captivating then. Since that time, I have married a NASA pilot and become very involved in the NASA community. The book is even better the second time around - plus astronaut Cunningham has a great take on our partnership with the Russians, current NASA management and the recent loss of the space shuttle Columbia. This book really does "tell it like it is" - it is a fascinating story for anyone, space fan or not!

Walter has surpassed even my expectations of this version of the All American Boys. Those expectations were fairly high because, knowing Walt, it was reasonable to anticipate a clear, articulate and straight forward text of his experiences as well as the unadulterated story of NASA. The public image of organizations is, almost without exception, distinctively different from the internal mechanisms and politics. Those who labor in a professional office, business or educational institution, and even within a family, are aware of that truism.
The All American Boys demonstrates that the highs and lows, the public persona and the internal Byzantine power struggles within NASA have been alive and well since its creation as nation's premier scientific agency. I would describe Walter's work as a combination of Days of Our Life and MacGyver. Order it, read it, and it will occupy a worthy place on your bookshelf.

No need to critique the book.......if you like history.........READ THIS ONE. We all need information on those spendid men........they made a difference. Our nation needed their courage and daring to boost our pride. We owe them and all those who follow in their footsteps a great debt for taking a leap into space to find priceless information about this great earth we all call "home".

Walt Cunningham is a marine and a fighter pilot through and through. His book reflects his own standards in life, direct and to the point. He pulls no punches in pointing out the exacting life and the stresses in the Astronaut Corps in the early days of NASA. I was there too at the same time and know somewhat the facts as he has detailed them in this excellent book. I was on the periphery of the Astronaut Corps, reponsible for making sure that their needs and those of the Flight Control Team were met with all the instrumentation and the control center on the ground to support their flights. We sometimes got involved in the intricate web of their society, and knew of some of the problems within their ranks. But Walt, in this volume, brings out a whole lot of detail that could only be told by someone in the inner circle bold enough to recite them in print. He has done this masterfully in this book of his. His apparent stepping on some sensitive toes is done in a good manner, and no one mentioned should walk away after reading his work and be too upset by the revelations on the inside. You could expect the rivalries and competition highlighted by Walt from a bunch of super-qualified fighter pilots newly named Astronauts. It is their nature to be that way. Put them all in the same cage, and you get very interesting person-to-person tidbits which come out in this book. Well worth reading if this is the only astronaut book you read.

My bookcase of space and space related books had been missing a copy of Walt Cunningham's 1977 edition of "The All-American Boys" for years. When Walt announced that an updated 25th anniversary edition was being released, I couldn't have been more pleased.

The new cover has a quote from the Los Angeles Times saying "The Best of All the Astronaut Books". I couldn't agree more. I rate Walt's book and Gene Cernan's "The Last Man on the Moon" as my two personal favorites.

Cunningham takes us on a journey from his childhood through his days in the Marine Corp then at NASA and into today with his views on the present day space program. We follow him through the astronaut selection process, how deaths, lives and "astropolitics" effected crew selection and non-selection, how an every-man's life is changed by being thrust into the spotlight as the latest celebrity and how the astronauts handled, and didn't handle, their new found fame.

This is not just the same old stories told from a different viewpoint. Cunningham really shows the human part of being an astronaut with its highs and pitfalls. He pulls no punches in describing the astronaut life of the 1960's and 1970's. After leaving NASA when his promised Skylab command disappeared, Cunningham brings us to today's space program and describes how we've changed from the race to space to more of an international cooperative space program. Cunningham explains the billions of technology dollars that were given away to the Soviets in the 70's and 90's and how that practice continues today with the Russians and the International Space Station. He also discusses how changes in the attitude and decision making of NASA management over the years has played a part in the Apollo 1 fire in 1967, the Challenger explosion in 1986 and the Columbia disaster of 2003.

Cunningham's book is one of those rare works that I couldn't put down until I had finished reading it. At well over 400 pages, it gives a rare, honest insight into the man and the program as well as those privileged enough to get the chance to ride the fire into space.

You are there with the Astronauts 24/7. Who they were, what they went through, as if you were right there...fascinating read!

At this moment in space history, with so much riding on what NASA does next, Walt Cunningham is a refreshing voice to counter those with a political agenda. I didn't detect a trace of bitterness in the book - rather a refreshing honesty and candid openness that you don't see in other books by astronauts. Walt isn't afraid to speak his mind, and this is going to put a few noses out of joint, I am sure... but I am glad he wrote his thoughts down, as it is vital to hear these thoughts right now.

Not only that, but he has an engaging, witty, funny writing style which sucks you in and keeps you reading. Great book!