Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$13.50 - $29.99

Available instantly

Paperback
$23.30 - $26.49

List Price: $44.99 Details

Save: $18.50 (41%)

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Tuesday, March 5 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Or fastest delivery March 2 - 4

Select delivery location

In Stock

$$26.49 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Monday, March 4 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Itemdeals

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Follow the author

Colin Burgess

Follow

The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team: Their Lives and Legacies (Springer Praxis Books) 2009th Edition

by Colin Burgess (Author), Rex Hall (Author)

4.6 10 ratings

Part of: Springer Praxis Books (408 books)

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$26.49","priceAmount":26.49,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"26","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"49","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"TWzr2fwOVFGpKG8n3VvoZRNjQ3KpcaA1eS7XjT5MRpTyu0HX%2BuiIfvwIi86dNb8qYRbBcB1Aon7Z%2FcCjOx%2F4B9sUkQ59tu5zMLGA2QB1MOSPhi5xI8lUW4o6VHr78PskRcOrWN55wP8%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$23.30","priceAmount":23.30,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"23","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"30","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"TWzr2fwOVFGpKG8n3VvoZRNjQ3KpcaA1JdnZzPc6bvWM6d9t532xDzKQy9dpldMlMcjV4dnlg%2F8r0r7eZNuSlYw%2BIX%2FfyrWW2Z%2BBZQ2%2BGQFKmZArNiSd2YlIf1aNuk7Bq9rrLd1LhyFiiwGrhGR852cR2BgIXKYw5YAkx%2FwupnnMmi1NI8de8Q%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team will relate who these men were and offer far more extensive background stories, in addition to those of the more familiar names of early Soviet space explorers from that group. Many previously-unpublished photographs of these “missing” candidates will also be included for the first time in this book. It will be a detailed, but highly readable and balanced account of the history, training and experiences of the first group of twenty cosmonauts of the USSR. A covert recruitment and selection process was set in motion throughout the Soviet military in August 1959, just prior to the naming of America’s Mercury astronauts. Those selected were ordered to report for training at a special camp outside of Moscow in the spring of 1960. Just a year later, Senior Lieutenant Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Air Force (promoted in flight to the rank of major) was launched aboard a Vostok spacecraft and became the first person ever to achieve space flight and orbit the Earth.

ISBN-10

0387848231
ISBN-13

978-0387848235
Edition

2009th
Publisher

Praxis
Publication date

December 23, 2008
Part of series

Springer Praxis Books
Language

English
Dimensions

6.69 x 0.99 x 9.53 inches
Print length

356 pages
See all details

Colin Burgess
14
Hardcover
54 offers from $4.01
Colin Burgess
20
Hardcover
26 offers from $13.38
Colin Burgess
53
Hardcover
57 offers from $9.27
Colin Burgess
24
Hardcover
30 offers from $16.94
Colin Burgess
24
Paperback
3 offers from $26.32
Colin Burgess
23
Hardcover
31 offers from $5.92

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews:

"In this book … Burgess (Australian spaceflight historian) and Hall (British education consultant) provide a wealth of interesting information on the first group of 20 Soviet cosmonauts. … Like the first American astronauts, the cosmonauts interacted in both a cooperative and competitive manner. … The book includes many photographs of the cosmonauts in training and in their personal lives, as well as some recent images of the few surviving members from the original group. Summing Up: Recommended. All undergraduate and public libraries." (J. Z. Kiss, Choice, Vol. 46 (10), June, 2009)

“This is a much needed reference work on the early history of the Soviet cosmonaut team. The authors have done an exemplary job in putting together a vast amount of information into a coherent volume that will undoubtedly be of great use for future researchers. That the pictures in this volume are of the highest quality only adds to its value.” (Asif Siddiqi, Quest, Vol. 18 (4), 2011)

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Praxis; 2009th edition (December 23, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 356 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0387848231
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0387848235
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.64 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.69 x 0.99 x 9.53 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,226,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #608 in Aeronautical Engineering
- #976 in Air Travel Reference (Books)
- #1,447 in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Customer Reviews:
4.6 10 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Important information

To report an issue with this product or seller, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Colin Burgess

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

10 global ratings

5 star

85%

4 star

0%

3 star

0%

2 star

15%

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

BM

Pulling back the veil of the Soviet space program.

Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2011

Verified Purchase

A truly impressive book on the early Soviet Cosmonauts. For decades the history of the early American astronauts has been well known but even after the fall of Communism in the old Soviet Union little has been written about the early Soviet cosmonauts. To date this is without question the best book on these men.

The book covers a rather surprising amount of area and features both good writing and scholarship. It's far from a dry biography. The book itself covers the usual areas you would expect. Things like their training and life after the space program. The book also delves into some of the mysteries of the program. Things like the "missing cosmonauts". These were men who were in the program and then suddenly removed and when I say removed I mean completely removed. Photographs that showed groups of cosmonauts together suddenly had a cosmonaut airbrushed out of the picture like he never existed. This book covers this area and the rumors of cosmonauts who were killed in missions that were then simply covered up like they never happened. The authors answer these questions extremely well due to some excellent research.

While I had read books by both of these authors in the past and enjoyed them, I think this book may be their best work. I think most people interested in this historical era will greatly enjoy it and find it an excellent reference tool as well.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

A. Domanska

Immaculately researched and full of touching personal details.

Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2011

Verified Purchase

The book is full of photos (candid and official), beautifully laid out and full of (unlike other earlier books on the subject) meticulously researched and full of citations and further reading pointers.

It is a series of mini biographies of the cosmonauts in chronological order, and explains a lot of the "lost cosmonaut" legends (which were just that, legends).

The poignant stories of the men who never made it to space are quite touching, especially the story of young Bondarenko and his premature death.

Much more attention is given to how the selections were made for the "first 20" than is given to further Soyuz missions, but I found the details interesting and felt they gave a lot of humanity to the men and women involved.
Very little is written about the parallel NASA program, but there are good books on the subject already.

If you have more than a passing interest in this subject I highly recommend this book. Several times primary sources (interviews with the cosmonauts themselves) are used and I liked those sections above all.

Another good book on this subject is Korolev: How One Man Masterminded the Soviet Drive to Beat America to the Moon . Those two books together should be enough to satisfy any CCCP-era space buff.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

James E. Oberg

Space Sleuthing At Its Best

Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2009

Absolutely masterful chronicle of the careers and fates of the earliest Soviet cosmonauts, as determined by a team of dogged space sleuths who over decades had to penetrate Soviet secrecy and coverups and outright falsifications to figure out the human stories behind the headlines. I'm celestially proud to have been one of their colleagues and a contributor of some resources on this daunting voyage of discovery -- whose wonderful fruits are displayed in this book that never could have been written without these inspired amateur space historians. Well done!

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Yannick Bollati

Endless boring details

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2011

Verified Purchase

Endless boring details about the personal life of the first group of soviet cosmonaut and very little on their missions and training itself. You will learn how many times they got drunk, where, when and with whom but not much about their actual job.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

maria mare

Loved this book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2015

Verified Purchase

I loved this book. It is really well researched and interesting to read. It is not too technical so anyone can understand. It shows how the soviets dealt with the different challenges on political economic, social, technical levels. I always had an impression that the Soviets did not really care for the people in the team but this was clearly not the case.

One person found this helpful

Micheal O Doibhilin

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 25, 2014

Verified Purchase

Covering ground well trodden, this book still manages to reveal new information and rare photos. Fabulous.

One person found this helpful

Anne-Marie

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

Great book!

One person found this helpful

See more reviews

Image Unavailable

Follow the author