Customer Reviews

Space Race: The Epic Battle Between America and the Soviet Union for Dominion of Space

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2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Note: this book has already been released in the UK and Australia, so I'm doing a review of it before it has been released in the USA.


I should have realized when I picked up the book that I was wasting my money. The front cover of the UK/Australian version of this book is slightly different from the USA edition and the title is "Space Race: The untold story of two rivals & their struggle for the moon". Of course this story has already been told at least a dozen times - just do a search for `Space Race' or similar on Amazon. I should have realized that with a title that was so blatantly wrong to put the book down and get something else.

The book is basically a historical look at the USA and USSR space programs up to the Apollo 11 landing and there is nothing wrong with this - I enjoy reading books covering the historical background on various scientific, engineering and technical topics. Great examples include `Latitude' by David Sobel, `The Measure of all things' by Ken Alder, and of course, `The Right Stuff' by Tom Wolfe. However in `Space Race' there are numerous scientific and technical errors - and not just a few small ones either. Almost every time the author delves into some technical area there are fundamental and gross errors. For example, the author states that solar panels use the sun's heat to generate electricity. Well, no, solar panels (photovoltaic panels) actually use light, not heat. She refers to oxidizers as `fuel' rather than propellant and states that napalm will ignite in the vacuum of space. To some it may be unreasonable to criticize these errors, but if such basic technical errors are made it not only shows that the book was not properly researched and proof-read, but it also leads one to doubt the historical accuracy of the book.

The other major annoyance with this book is the language. It is full of hyperbole and overly florid language and often reads more like a Mills and Boon romance novel or a soap opera script. For example in this section she writes of a test dummy's landing: "His sightless eyes took in a God's eye view of the world. His unhearing ears heard the retro engines fire to perfection. His unfeeling limbs felt the rush as he landed on a quite edge of the woods in falling snow near a remote village."

Usually a book like this I would devour in a day or two, but with this one, I have taken over a month. I read a page or two until I become so annoyed by the errors and poor writing that I put it down and only picked it up again when I have absolutely nothing else to do.

If there's one thing more difficult than making history interesting to a general audience, it's writing a history of scientific achievement. While Deborah Cadbury's Space Race is not a perfect work, it does a worthy job of telling the history of the race between the United States and the Soviet Union to achieve supremacy in space. Cadbury makes this more than dry scientific history by looking at the two programs from the standpoint of the two men leading the projects.

Space Race is a companion to a television series of the same name that aired on the BBC last year and is scheduled to air on the National Geographic Channel next month. Cadbury tells the story by alternating in each chapter between Wernher von Braun and the American program and the Soviet program during roughly the same time period with a focus on von Braun's Soviet counterpart, Sergei Korolev. While von Braun was appearing before television cameras and gracing magazine covers, Korolev was unknown even in his own country. The Soviet obsession with secrecy meant that he was known only as the "Chief Designer." In fact, when Yuri Gagarian was honored in Red Square for being the first man in space, Korolev was not on the balcony or at the head table for the celebratory events. In fact, he never even made it to Red Square because his car broke down.

Cadbury uses this approach to take us from Korolev's imprisonment in the Soviet gulag during the Stalinist purges and the race to find Nazi rocket scientists as World War II came to a close to Korolev's death in 1966 and the ultimate success of America's lunar program. Where Cadbury excels is in taking us inside Korolev's life, work and struggles. Using some of Korolev's personal archives, Cadbury helps us learn not only about the successes and failures in the Soviet program but also in the life of the man who directed it.

On the other hand, von Braun's history is an area in which Space Race seems to suffer. The work often refers to von Braun's Nazi ties and details the conditions of the slave and concentration camp labor used in the Nazi rocket program. At the same time, there is little definitive about the extent of von Braun's involvement. Similarly, while Cadbury tells a compelling tale of the search for the Nazi rocket scientists at the close of the war, there is little on the deals that were struck or the records that may have been destroyed as part of Project Paperclip, the name for the operation that brought Nazi rocket scientists to the United States. Perhaps no one really knows those details. If that is the case, Cadbury needed to be more clear, rather than throwing out sentences like, "Von Braun's own secrets have only recently been unraveled."

The fact Space Race is a companion to a television series also works against it at times. Television series episodes occasionally require repetition to remind viewers of what they saw in a prior installment or to educate new viewers. In the written word, though, material stays in memory or it is easy to look back. Thus, for example, in discussing the ongoing difficulties faced in building larger rockets, it may not be necessary to tell the reader numerous times how the failure of fuel components to adequately mix can cause explosions in the fuel chamber and disastrous consequences.

In the greater scheme of things, however, these problems are minor compared to the way Cadbury personalizes this Cold War-fueled rivalry. While educating the reader on the technological and political problems facing these space programs, von Braun and Korolev serve to exemplify the struggle between their nations and the real people behind the programs. Particularly with Korolev, we see the single-mindedness and personal price exacted in this race and a perspective with which very few in the west are aware.

This book is well written and filled with little know facts regarding the Soviets. It was interesting to read about the infighting and problems the Soviets faced during the 1950's and 1960's.

I take issue when an author says they're writing a comprehensive history, yet focuses upon a few personalities in order to frame the story.

Cadbury has set this up as a 'Korlev vs. Von Braun' story which gives the book a kind of tabloid feel. Certainly any history of the space race would devote good chunks to the work of these two men, but to overly focus upon their work leaves out too much to qualify this book as a 'must read'. Certainly Von Braun deserves plenty of credit in the success of Apollo with his masterful construction of the Saturn V, but equally impressive were others who solved major pieces of the puzzle by building the LEM and figuring out the guidance problem.

While not an engineer, I'm enough of a space buff to catch some of the numerous errors in this book. Some small (Apollo 11 lifted off at 9:32, not 9:30), some larger (why the N-1 ultimately failed). Anytime I come across a clanger in a book, I immediately lose my enthusiasm to read on.

Overall, this is the kind of book you'd pick up at the library but would never spend hard earned dollars on.

I agree with the first reviewer, there are far too many technical errors in this book than should be permitted. I worked at Kennedy on Apollo and Gemini, and eagerly read any new book on the space race. It makes me question the accuracy of the Russian side of the story she describes. I have just sent the publisher a list of 29 major goofs.

This is a well written book that focuses on the roles of Wehner von Braun and Sergei Korolev in leading respectively the United States and Soviet Union in the race to the moon. The main strength of the book is that it places the men in the context of the their times and provides interesting and insightful parallel accounts of their experiences prior to and during the Cold War. Although other authors have written fascinating accounts of the early history of space exploration, this book excels in showing the cause and effect of interpersonal and political decisions as well as showing the risks and stress that such decisions placed on people involved. The matter-of-fact depictions of the failures experienced by both programs distinguishes this book from the "gee whiz" approach of some books by making it apparent that the difference between success and disaster often hinged on the proper functioning of complex and barely tested systems and the appropriate utilization of the meager resources on board the space craft. Although the emphasis of the book is on the events and people involved in the space programs, I found the book to be technically sound. Also, I think the fact that the book is written by a British citizen adds to the balance of the book. Keep in mind that the book is about the programs headed by von Braun and Korolev and does not deal extensively with other programs that were involved in space exploration or the efforts that did not evolve in the moon programs. Nonetheless, it provides a very good sense of the challenges of space exploration and how they were largely addressed.

Non-fiction is, for me, often a struggle to read. I love stories, and while fiction can always serve my needs, I've found non-fiction usually falls short. Even historical events, which are stories in and of themselves, can become so full of technical jargon and academic analysis that they become flattened and I find myself losing interest.

Thus, I have found myself surprised by the general negative reviews of Deborah Cadbury's "Space Race". I picked this book up at the library after looking for something on the Apollo program and immediately became enthralled. Cadbury focuses on the two men behind the race to the moon: German Wernher von Braun, who worked for the Americans after World War II, and Sergei Korolev, the secret mastermind behind the Soviet space program. Rotating between their lives both before the Nazi regime fell in Europe and after, as the Cold War went into full swing, she paints a picture of two men driven by the same intrinsic need: to see men on the moon.

The men themselves couldn't be more different. Wernher von Braun was portrayed as the golden boy, a former Nazi scientist who willingly came to the United States in the hopes of launching a space program that would send man to the moon. Charming, good-looking, and full of ideas, it was his Saturn V rocket that became one of the most powerful pieces of engineering man has ever created. On the flip side is Korolev, a former inmate of the Soviet gulag system who rose above the ashes to become the nation's premier rocket engineer. Though he often had a clash of wills with his engine developers and was frustrated by a lack of funding, he devoted himself completely to his nation's space program, doing whatever was necessary to be the best - with absolutely no recognition during his lifetime.

Overall, the book reads well. Personally, I found Korlev's story more fascinating, perhaps because, beyond the highlights I learned in school, I knew next to nothing about the Soviet space program. I also know virtually nothing about engineering, so if there are technical errors in the book, they go right over my head. One reviewer mentioned that this is a companion to a television series; if so, I was not aware of it. Yes, Cadbury repeats some points throughout the book, but I never found it annoying. And, though some have wished the book went on longer, I can see why it stopped with Apollo 11. It is not so much about the United States and the USSR as it is about von Braun and Korolev, and since the latter passed away in 1966, it seems strange to continue without him.

"Space Race" is a fast-paced, action-filled book that has made me more interested in the space program than I had been in years. With the US shuttle program nearing its close, it is an interesting look at how it all began, with the dreams to two men who never met but who, together, changed history.

While there are some errors in the book, largely regarding terminology, the technology of the two space programs is not the main focus of the book. Rather, this is a story looking at how the politics of the time and the personalities involved interacted to create the famous competition. The technology is discussed enough to pique your interest for further research from appropriate sources, if you wish, but the purpose is serves in the narrative is primarily to give you a sense of the scale and difficulty of the endeavors undertaken. Some dramatic liberties are taken here and there, but Cadbury's indulgences help to bring the story back to the human perspective. A straight recounting of historic events and the science involved is interesting, but dry. With the incredible scale and scope of these missions, her writing helps to remind you that in that tin can hurtling toward the ground at 400 mph is a man who did everything right, against incredible odds, and is going to die anyway. With all the details to recount, she doesn't lose the human aspect of the story.

It happens that this was the kind of perspective I was looking for in wanting to read more about the space programs, and I found it a quick and entertaining read. For a ~350 page book, I think she does a great job carrying you right along from WWII to the '69 moon landing. For every five pages of this book you could easily find several thousand more in other works elaborating on the same events. All the same, I enjoyed it a lot and thought it was very successful from the angle it took. If you're looking for a more detailed account, many of the other reviews mention some great reads that I'd recommend as well. If you're looking for a place to start, this is $10 well spent.

As others have stated, this book ends at the Apollo moon landings, which is unfortunate. I feel that it should have continued on to describe both the "space station race" and the "shuttle race" that went on long after the Apollo program ended. The book covers the first 25 years of the space programs but effectively ignores the subsequent decades where it actually became possible to live in space.

What about the development of the Salylut space stations, Soviet Buran shuttle orbiter and the Mir space station? How were those developed in contrast with the USA's Skylab and Space Shuttle program? Those were signifigant developments, with the Russians taking the lead in long-endurance flight and the USA with reusable space vehicles. From what I understand, there were quite a few hits and misses with most of those programs.

Also, had I been the author, I'd have written the last few chapters on the International Space Station. I believe the ISS is effectively the true end of the space race, because the two great rivals are now willingly working together (along with a slew of other nations) to create this massive project. You have billions of dollars invested by all parties to create this amazing complex that represents the best intentions of all the partner countries.

Overall, I found it a good read. I did learn quite a bit regarding the Soviet space program and their hits and misses. However, at times the book's writing jarringly shifts gears from factual documentary to overly florid prose. Also, while I'm no aerospace engineer, the fact that others said the book has quite a few technical errors gives me pause.

"Space Race" tells story of the Space Race through parallel biographies of the two great rocket designers Werner von Braun on the American side and Sergei Korolev on the Soviet side.

The results are patchy. The narrative is disjointed, the language is florid, and many details of the Korolev story seem merely speculative - but it makes for a racy read. Given these attributes this book may be more appropriate for teenagers or older children. Not terrible but could have been much better.