ICBM: The Making of the Weapon That Changed the World

by G. Harry Stine

Genres: Nonfiction

291 pages, Hardcover

First published June 4, 1991

About the author

George Harry Stine attended the University of Colorado in Boulder. Upon his graduation he went to work at White Sands Proving Grounds, first as a civilian scientist and then, from 1955–1957, at the U.S. Naval Ordnance Missile Test Facility as head of the Range Operations Division.

Stine and his wife Barbara were friends of author Robert A. Heinlein, who sponsored their wedding, as Harry's parents were dead and Barbara's mother too ill to travel. Several of Heinlein's books are dedicated one or both of them, most particularly Have Space Suit - Will Travel. Stine also wrote science articles for Popular Mechanix.

G. Harry Stine also used these alternative names:

Lee Correy, Harry Stine, George Harry Stine.

Reviews

[Roger Burk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stine is a science fiction and general science writer, so don't expect original research here. Also, the style is pretty breezy. But this story of how long-range rockets became weapons of war is fascinating and has a few insights, particularly in the 1950s when Stine was working on their development, as an engineer at White Sands Missile Range. He met some of the key designers, including the Peenemuende Germans who developed the V-2 and played such a big role in early American military rocketry. He describes the period of alarm then, when we discovered that the Soviets were actually ahead of us in designing a hydrogen bomb small enough to fit on a missile, and also had a missile program much more well-developed that ours.

The book was written in 1990, and there's a postscript about the first large-scale use of long-range rockets in war since the V-2s, that by Iraqi Scuds in 1991. Stine predicts that the new threat will produce a flurry of effort in antiballistic missile systems that will remove their danger. It didn't work out that way.

[Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good summary of the history and challenges in developing U.S. ICBMs. Seems even more relevant as we watch North Korea and Iran trying to follow the same path. Stine is a good clear writer, the book is well-researched (not scholarly footnoted, but reflecting interviews and great combination of the secondary literature). A very good contribution on a topic that is not well-covers in any other book I've found.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and detailed.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

first and last chapters are a little boring but the history in the rest of the book is very good and entertaining.