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the Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age Paperback – September 25, 1997

by Walter A. McDougall (Author)

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This highly acclaimed study approaches the space race as a problem in comparative public policy. Drawing on published literature, archival sources in both the United States and Europe, interviews with many of the key participants, and important declassified material, such as the National Security Council's first policy paper on space, McDougall examines U.S., European, and Soviet space programs and their politics. Opening with a short account of Nikolai Kibalchich, a late nineteenth-century Russian rocketry theoretician, McDougall argues that the Soviet Union made its way into space first because it was the world's first "technocracy"―which he defines as "the institutionalization of technological change for state purpose." He also explores the growth of a political economy of technology in both the Soviet Union and the United States.

the Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Exhaustively researched, brilliantly conceived, and beautifully written."

(New York Times Book Review)

"A lucid and comprehensive political history of the American, European, and Russian space programs."

(New Scientist)

"Once every decade or so, a book comes along that stands by itself as a remarkable contribution to the literature of a field. Such a work is Walter A. McDougall's ... the Heavens and the Earth."

(Technology and Culture)

"[A] boldly conceived, elegantly written, and unfailingly provocative history of the new age of space."

(Science)

"This highly acclaimed study approaches the space race as a problem in comparative public policy."

(The Astronomical Society of the Pacific)

"[An] immensely readable and elegant book."

(Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

"The definitive, surprising and highly readable history of the U.S. space program. Forget visionary rhetoric about humans' need to explore the next frontier: McDougal demonstrates how NASA's moon missions grew directly from Hitler's V-2 rocket project at Pennemunde and were all about the classic military necessity of controlling the high ground―in this case the really high ground... [One of] the five best books I have read about the U.S. space program."

(Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down)

About the Author

Walter A. McDougall is Alloy-Ansin Professor of International Relations at the University of Pennsylvania, and editor of Orbis: A Journal of World Affairs. He is also author of France's Rhineland Diplomacy, 1914–1942: The Last Bid for a Balance of Power in Europe.

Paperback: 584 pages
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press; F Second Printing Used edition (September 25, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0801857481
ISBN-13: 978-0801857485
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 16 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #568,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #323 in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Engineering > Aerospace > Astronautics & Space Flight
- #787 in Books > Science & Math > Astronomy & Space Science > Astrophysics & Space Science
- #816 in Books > Science & Math > Astronomy & Space Science > Aeronautics & Astronautics

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Gripping account of earthly greatpower rivalry played out in the stars

ByDad to 2 wee nipperson June 12, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Possibly the best book I've had to read while studying a Masters in International Relations. So good, that I've actually read it twice (though skimmed a few bits the second time - it's long and tad bit flowery in parts).

McDougall has done a fantastic job in digging into the story behind the space race, starting back in 1800s. He shows how Russia, pre-Soviet era, had a significant number of people dreaming of missions into space, which the USSR inherited.

He also shows how the US realized one of the key, if not the key, benefit of satellites would be spying on others - and this required a regime that allowed satellite overflight of foreign countries. Which explains why the US chose only it's 3rd best group of rocketeers to compete to launch a satellite.

Unfortunately, again as McDougall explains, the US kept this decision very, very secret and did nothing to explain this to the US public, so it badly lost the PR game when the USSR launched Sputnik.

I could go on - so many interesting facts, useful to any student of great power politics and invaluable to students of space.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

McDougall is brilliant, fun and so worth reading.

ByM. E. Cushingon March 29, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is more than political history, however you might define that as a genre. This is more than a highly readable, deeply thoughtful presentation of the race between super powers which "ended" nearly 30 years ago. Eisenhower, Khrushchev, Kennedy, Johnson, von Braun, they are all here. But so are Plato, Dante, Nietzsche and Augustine. This is a meditation on what it means to be human in an age of never ending discovery through the extension of science and technology. McDougall boldly goes where so few dare, beyond the rockets and satellites in search of the soul. We still are living in this age and this timeless book still speaks to us.

0Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

It is no wonder that McDougall won a Pulitzer Prize!

ByJack Kennedy Jr.on January 7, 2007

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Being a so-called 'Child of Apollo.' I read this book expecting few new insights to the space program's formulative period. Gee, was I ever wrong! This book is filled with nuggests of historic information that provides the reader with greater context and historic analysis than any other book on the topic I have yet to read. Any student of history, political science, or space advocate should read this book carefully to be well-grounded in the Apollo Era. McDougall did an outstanding job in relating to the reader details of the context of the American and Soviet space programs throughout the 50's and 60's. Knowledge of the space age would be totally incomplete without having read this book! I highly recommend it. It is no wonder that this book won McDougall the 1986 Pulitzer Prize.

0Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A must read for any student of space policy

ByBrian Weedenon January 27, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book is still the gold standard for scholarship on space policy. Although newer works have elaborated on it and added more detail, it still stands as the reference for much of the history of the first 30 years of the Space Age.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Too Much

ByRobert Sparrenbergeron October 4, 2016

Format: Paperback

A very thorough look at the space race from a political viewpoint. The problem with this book is it is horribly overwritten. 461 pages of dense text that could be whittled down by at least 100 pages. Excruciating details are discussed leaving the reader with a headache from all the material.

The author also wants to get deep towards the end and turn philosophical. I was so tired that my eyes glazed over reading about the origins of the universe.

There is also a lot of exclamation points in this book. Lots of typos on the kindle edition as well. Plus they included the page numbers in the text which was annoying.

Mediocre at best for such a highly acclaimed book. Not for the average reader who wants a review of the space race.

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A masterpiece!!!

ByA customeron June 17, 1999

Format: Paperback

This is the best political history written about the space program to date. McDougall's book is masterfully researched and written. This is what scholarship is all about! As a doctoral student in space policy, I have found this book to be an incredible reference guide in my studies.
McDougall's genius lies in his ability to decifer the true reasons (political, social, and economic) behind the space race. The amazing thing is that he did so before most of the classified documents regarding the opening years of the American space program were released. Almost all of his assumptions have been proven true as those documents have become available to the public.
I would highly recommend this book to any true student of the history of the space program.

0Comment 5 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A Pulitzer Prize-winning Explanation of the Space Race

ByRoger D. LauniusVINE VOICEon December 20, 2003

Format: Paperback

Although there were notable forerunners, spaceflight historiography came of age with the 1985 publication this book by Walter McDougall. It received Pulitzer Prize and a host of other well-deserved awards with its analysis of the origins and conduct of the space race. This book explores the Cold War rivalry in race with the preparations for and launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, through the race to the Moon in the 1960s. The author argues that the mandate to complete Apollo on Kennedy's schedule prompted the space program to become identified almost exclusively with high-profile, expensive, human spaceflight projects. This was because Apollo became a race against the Soviet Union for recognition as the world leader in science and technology and by extension in other fields as well.
McDougall juxtaposes the American effort of Apollo with the Soviet space program and the dreams of such designers as Sergei P. Korolev to land a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. The author recognizes Apollo as a significant engineering achievement but concludes that it was also enormously costly both in terms of resources and the direction to be taken in state support of science and technology. In the end, NASA had to stress engineering over science, competition over cooperation, civilian over military management, and international prestige over practical applications. Not all agree with McDougall's arguments, but since the publication of "the Heavens and the Earth..." historians have been striving to equal its scintillating analysis, stellar writing, and scope of discussion.

0Comment 15 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most recent customer reviews

The Entire Scope of the Space Age

Phenomenal! McDougall covers the full breadth of the most influential factors, giving insight to the obvious, and depth to the obscure but important forces moving the space age...Read more

Published on May 21, 2007 by BG

Thorough and Easy to Follow

This book is fantastic. The book studies, in depth, the the reasons and processes that led to and the decisions that were made during that time.Read more

Published on December 24, 2006 by D. Zakar

Up, up and beyond

The Cold War between the US and USSR was fought on multiple fronts. One of the most exciting was the Space Race; first to space, first man in space, first woman in space, and of...Read more

Published on March 22, 2006 by Newton Ooi

Insightful, Revealing and Ahead of its Time

I purchased this book when it first came out 20 years ago. At the time, it was very controversial. Author McDougall suggested that President Eisenhower actually wanted the Soviet...Read more

Published on March 7, 2006 by Terry Sunday

a compelling political analysis of the space program

The political history of the space age in _...The_Heavens_and_the_Earth_ provides a fascinating glimpse of the considerations taken within the Eisenhower administration and the...Read more

Published on October 10, 2000 by G W Thielman

Fine Work

Another fine work from Walter Mcdougall. This is the most thorough treatment of the political history of the space race available, and for those who find it dry, I suggest that...Read more

Published on October 28, 1999

Good history but a bit dry

Nearly too thorough in its analysis of the space programs of the U.S. and Soviet Union. As it was intended as a work of history, I suppose it accomplished its goal.Read more

Published on August 11, 1999

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