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Space Race: The Battle to Rule the Heavens
From the author of ‘Seven Wonders of the Industrial World’, the ebook edition of the TV tie-in charting the shocking but true story behind the space race – and the ruthless, brilliant scientists who fuelled it.
With the end of the Cold War it is now possible to reveal its generation of secrets and cover-ups, bringing an historical opportunity: the unmasking of the true heroes and villains behind the race to be the first to conquer space.
This is one of the greatest stories in history, beginning in the throes of the Second World War and spanning through to the moon landings. With the US and Russia pitched against one another during the Cold War, it was the race to create the most powerful rocket and dominate the world, culminating in 1969's 'giant leap for mankind'. The most pioneering and high-risk experiments ever undertaken cost untold millions – and hundreds of lives, as mistakes were made, some too horrific to be made public.
It is a tale that plays out against a backdrop of communism and espionage. Buried within this multi-million-dollar battle between nations, are the dramatic accounts of the individuals who seek to be the winners at any cost. With ex-Nazi Wernher von Braun on the American side pitted against the enigmatic Sergei Korolev on the Soviet side, this revealing new history shows the extent to which politics and personal ambition combined to create an explosive race for the glory of victory.
Note that it has not been possible to include the same picture content that appeared in the original print version.
441 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2005
57 people are currently reading
1064 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Cadbury
23 books172 followersDeborah Cadbury is an award-winning British author and BBC television producer specialising in fundamental issues of science and history, and their effects on modern society.
After graduating from Sussex University in Psychology and Linacre College, Oxford she joined the BBC as a documentary maker and has received numerous international awards, including an Emmy, for her work on the BBC's Horizon strand.
She is also the highly-acclaimed author of The Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, The Feminisation of Nature, The Dinosaur Hunters, The Lost King of France and Space Race.
(Source: Wikipedia, HarperCollins)
After graduating from Sussex University in Psychology and Linacre College, Oxford she joined the BBC as a documentary maker and has received numerous international awards, including an Emmy, for her work on the BBC's Horizon strand.
She is also the highly-acclaimed author of The Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, The Feminisation of Nature, The Dinosaur Hunters, The Lost King of France and Space Race.
(Source: Wikipedia, HarperCollins)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
October 31, 2009
Perhaps you have to be of a "certain age" or inclination, but this book (developed/based on a concurrent BBC TV series) is a really good look at the origins of the "race", how it developed in each country, and how it ended (failure of the Russian's "moon rocket" vs. success and fleeting glory for the American effort.)
The origin, of course, does not begin in either country. (Ok that's an over-simplification: Robert Goddard's work on liguid-fueled rockets was both the inspiration and underpinning of those who followed in his footsteps.)
Germany is where our tale begins. Where dreamers met to think of space flight (like Goddard), but after initial success on their own, were co-opted (some more willingly than others) into the German military machine. Both their brilliance and their cooperation and support of that cannot be doubted.
After the war, both men and machines were prime targets for the reigning superpowers. How they were treated, used and given work are a study in contrasts.
This book has a lot of in-depth coverage of the native Russian expert, the "Chief Designer" whose name and existence were only widely known after his death in 1966. His early years, conviction and banishment to a gulag are covered, but the information is thin. Probably both because records are sketchy, but also because it is not the main focus of the book.
The "rivalry" between the Chief Designer in both countries: Korolev and von Braun is the main theme. Like a game of cat-and-mouse the book follows their striving for space and being first to achieve.
For myself, one of the areas where the book should have more content is when the Russians are launching probes and robot missions in the mid-to-late 60s. No details of how these devices were planned and constructed are offered. They just appear in launches. Likewise the destruction of the N-1 rockets is linked to the failure of KORD the engine control system, but no details of it are given, while faults and tests and the improvement of the F-1 engines (1.5 million pounds of thrust apiece!) is written into the story.
But despite my personal wishes, this is a really excellent tale and one that every boy and girl should read.
The origin, of course, does not begin in either country. (Ok that's an over-simplification: Robert Goddard's work on liguid-fueled rockets was both the inspiration and underpinning of those who followed in his footsteps.)
Germany is where our tale begins. Where dreamers met to think of space flight (like Goddard), but after initial success on their own, were co-opted (some more willingly than others) into the German military machine. Both their brilliance and their cooperation and support of that cannot be doubted.
After the war, both men and machines were prime targets for the reigning superpowers. How they were treated, used and given work are a study in contrasts.
This book has a lot of in-depth coverage of the native Russian expert, the "Chief Designer" whose name and existence were only widely known after his death in 1966. His early years, conviction and banishment to a gulag are covered, but the information is thin. Probably both because records are sketchy, but also because it is not the main focus of the book.
The "rivalry" between the Chief Designer in both countries: Korolev and von Braun is the main theme. Like a game of cat-and-mouse the book follows their striving for space and being first to achieve.
For myself, one of the areas where the book should have more content is when the Russians are launching probes and robot missions in the mid-to-late 60s. No details of how these devices were planned and constructed are offered. They just appear in launches. Likewise the destruction of the N-1 rockets is linked to the failure of KORD the engine control system, but no details of it are given, while faults and tests and the improvement of the F-1 engines (1.5 million pounds of thrust apiece!) is written into the story.
But despite my personal wishes, this is a really excellent tale and one that every boy and girl should read.
January 29, 2016
This tells the story of Sergei Korolev who despite doing time in one of Stalin's Gulags became the Chief Designer of the Soviet Space Programme and Wernher von Braun who despite his Nazi past became the father of the U.S Space Programme. This was a really interesting read about the race to be the first to put a man in space, and of course land on the moon.
Despite my love of the space programme I have a big problem with von Braun's part in it. I know that not everybody who joined the Nazi party did so because they shared their beliefs many were just trying to protect their families, but in von Braun's case he did it because he believed that joining the party would help with his space flight ambitions. There was plenty of evidence that von Braun knew all about the slave labour that was used to build his V2 rockets, and about the 20,000 who died building them. Instead of being tried and executed as a war criminal he was spirited out of the country and his past was covered up because the powers that be thought he might have knowledge that was useful to them and they didn't want Stalin getting his hands on it. Moral of the story if you are going to be a war criminal please make sure you have skills and knowledge that are valuable to the winning side and then you will not only get away with it you will be encouraged to pursue your own ambitions.
Despite my love of the space programme I have a big problem with von Braun's part in it. I know that not everybody who joined the Nazi party did so because they shared their beliefs many were just trying to protect their families, but in von Braun's case he did it because he believed that joining the party would help with his space flight ambitions. There was plenty of evidence that von Braun knew all about the slave labour that was used to build his V2 rockets, and about the 20,000 who died building them. Instead of being tried and executed as a war criminal he was spirited out of the country and his past was covered up because the powers that be thought he might have knowledge that was useful to them and they didn't want Stalin getting his hands on it. Moral of the story if you are going to be a war criminal please make sure you have skills and knowledge that are valuable to the winning side and then you will not only get away with it you will be encouraged to pursue your own ambitions.
July 18, 2009
A spellbinding history of the race to the moon that actually started during World War II, it is ultmately the story of two equally brilliant rocket scientists: Sergei Korolev, the humble Russian gulag survivor who was drafted into greatness that he would never enjoy, and Wernher von Braun, the flashy, media savvy American star with a secret Nazi past. It is also the story of the astronauts: Yuri Gagarin, the sweet-natured farm boy who became the first man in space, and the square jawed, all-American heroes who captivated a nation. While both sides are given equal time, Cadbury paints a particularly moving portrait of the Russian team, especially the now-legendary "chief designer" Korolev and his friend, the tragically short-lived Gagarin. What they managed to achieve in spite of a lack of funding and deplorable conditions is nothing short of astonishing. Sure, we won the space race, but this proud American has a new respect for the Soviet space program and its amazing men.
March 15, 2013
Cadbury's books are always very readable; they are informative without being dry. In Space Race she follows the lives of the two competing scientists that lead the space programs for America and the Soviet Union. With Cadbury's approach, the story of the space race is not some abstract, military-driven power struggle between capitalism and communism, or even a tale of adventure and heroic patriotism on the part of the astronauts and cosmonauts. It is the story of a personal battle between two men who, although they never met, shared a dream of reaching the stars. A fascinating read.
February 13, 2012
I don't give 5 stars lightly. This book is a tremendously exciting story of the race into space by the two superpowers of the time, Russia and the United States. It explores the history and development of rocketry, concentrating on the German, Wernher von Braun, and the Russian Chief Designer Sergei Korolev, culminating with Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong's steps on the Moon. Throughout the book there is almost unbearable tension as each side tries to outdo the other, with all the successes and failures along the way. The book is very readable and absolutely fascinating, uncovering previously little known details about the Russian developments, and uncovering the people and personalities involved.
If you have the slightest interest in the development of space travel throughout the 20th century, I highly recommend this book.
If you have the slightest interest in the development of space travel throughout the 20th century, I highly recommend this book.
March 18, 2012
If you want an in-depth look at the science behind the Space Race- this isn't your book. If you're interested in the technical aspects of the missions you'll probably be disappointed as well. The author is really attempting a human-interest story about the roles played by the U.S. leader Werner Von Braun (including his past as one Nazi Germany's designers of the V-1 rockets) as well as the parallel story of the USSR's Sergei Korolev (who would remain almost completely unknown to the Western world). Their stories are quite interesting and the very different ways the 2 nations approached the Space Race are fascinating. For someone like myself who doesn't have a particular interest in astronomy- or even really science- this was a breezy way to encounter a topic i'd might otherwise not read about. If you're a big reader of astronomy titles though, you might want to pass it up.
October 10, 2014
Oh my goodness, I can't even explain how much I loved this book. It's basically a dual biography of Werner von Braun and Sergei Korolev, and their joint but very, very separate struggles to reach space with their rockets. I've spent a lot of time dreaming of the stars myself, and I can see how it would turn into a lifelong obsession. The facts and details are decent, but what really turned this one into a five star book for me is how the book presented the men's parallels so smoothly. I felt myself tearing up that Korolev never achieved his life's goal.
On a side note - anyone interested in Korolev should check out the graphic novel Laika by Nick Abadzis. It's phenomenal.
On a side note - anyone interested in Korolev should check out the graphic novel Laika by Nick Abadzis. It's phenomenal.
January 5, 2026
“Gather round while I sing you of Wernher von Braun.
a man whose allegiance is ruled by expedience.
Call him a Nazi, he won’t even frown.
‘Nazi, Schmazi,’ says Wernher von Braun.”
This was the caricature Tom Lehrer painted of the renowned rocket scientist behind the German V-2. Lehrer’s von Braun was a cynical opportunist, someone who served different masters depending on whichever regime happened to be funding his rockets that year. In Lehrer’s telling, accusations of blood on his hands are brushed aside with a shrug:
“ 'Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down? That’s not my department,' says Wernher von Braun. "
From being the subject of satirical songs to being the inspiration for the title character in Stanley Kubrick's 'Dr. Strangelove', von Braun’s character was flattened into all sorts of molds, but how much of it is true? More than that, what was his place within the US-Soviet Space Race? And most important of all, what of his shadowy Soviet rival, a man who lived in almost complete obscurity and was known to the West (and to most of his countrymen ) by the opaque title of “Chief Designer”?
The book traces the development of the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union by a parallel exposition of the life and trials of the two extraordinary men who were its chief architects: Wernher von Braun and his nemesis Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.
The chapters alternate between von Braun and Korolev, but it’s not simply the story of space as a theater of an ideological Darwinian struggle for supremacy in the Cold War. It’s also a celebration, a commemoration, and a salute to all the pioneers (American and Soviet) who gambled their lives for the sake of furthering the goals of their respective homelands and yet in the process, widened the reach of the human spirit effectively liberating it from the shackles of earthly gravity.
The author explores how a simple dream of reaching for the stars carried both von Braun and Korolev into parallel paths, paths that even though pointed to the same end, carried wholly different caveats for both of them. Korolev was put in the Gulag during Stalin’s purges, tearing his family apart and nearly breaking him, only to find himself back in Stalin’s good graces due to the military need of achieving an advantage over the West in matters of rocketry, and using his engineering expertise to unlock the secrets of the German V-2 blueprints and components that fell into the hands of the Red Army after the fall of the Reich. This eventually led him to become the head of the Soviet space program.
Von Braun on the other hand, starts in categorically different circumstances. Born into aristocracy, he was recruited by the Nazi state to help her in producing its wonder weapons. His V-2 rocket became an emblem of both his pioneering vision and the marriage of the scientific explorer with the practical military needs of the army. This association, and his actions within this marriage will forever stain his reputation, (irreparably to some). He, too, found an employer after the war in the form of a world superpower. He, too, would be recruited to squeeze the last bit of technical know-how out of the German missile program. And he, too, would find himself heading an organization with the chief objective of conquering space...the difference being the ideology in whose name this crusade was to be held.
Both Korolev and von Braun, and hence the US and USSR, followed a similar progress (although it was a progress in which initially the Soviets claimed the lead) : conquering Earth’s orbit with metallic emissaries, then people, and ultimately putting this new breed of men, astronauts and cosmonauts, on the Moon.
The author periodically contrasts the circumstances of the Soviet space program with that of its US counterpart. While Korolev suffered from a lack of funds, political interference, non-existent testing facilities/infrastructure for his N-1 rocket engines, rivalry with his colleagues, not to mention bureaucratic inertia, von Braun had generous funding from the world’s wealthiest state, and he oversaw an organization where the atmosphere was an embodiment of the free market of ideas, where disagreements were encouraged, and the natural selection of concepts was based on their feasibility for space purposes and not forced to fit the mold of military utility.
My only critique is that the book concludes with the Moon landings of the Apollo program, while I would have wanted a more exhaustive exploration of the other missions as well (I was waiting for a treatment of the Venera missions, but alas, none was forthcoming).
I found the topic to be fascinating, the author’s treatment of it absorbing, and the narrative style to be the perfect balance between background information, the humanizing of the two central figures as complex individuals, and a drama tethered to historical facts. It is a must-read even if you are only vaguely interested in the topic. Highly recommended.
Seeing that, as I started with von Braun, it is only suitable to conclude with him as well, I cannot help but think of a famous quote often attributed to him ('attributed' is a strong word here). Whether the quote is true or of fictional origins is beside the point, for I think it perfectly identifies that most elusive strain in his character, one that is often squeezed out for the sake of simplifying an entire life experience to fit a not so complex caricature which affirms our beliefs. For Werner, his unbound obsession with anything to do with space, a curiosity that did not allow him the grace of containing his excitement when discussing such matters with others, was continuously held down firm to the ground by the practical needs of earthly matters, forcing him to surrender his vision for the sake of utility (though it helped that, and the space race is a testament to this, sometimes..just sometimes... both practicality and vision might converge to form something so beautifully inspiring).
It was rumored that when the first V-2 hit London he remarked to some of his colleagues: “The rocket worked perfectly except for landing on the wrong planet.”
Rating: 4/5.
a man whose allegiance is ruled by expedience.
Call him a Nazi, he won’t even frown.
‘Nazi, Schmazi,’ says Wernher von Braun.”
This was the caricature Tom Lehrer painted of the renowned rocket scientist behind the German V-2. Lehrer’s von Braun was a cynical opportunist, someone who served different masters depending on whichever regime happened to be funding his rockets that year. In Lehrer’s telling, accusations of blood on his hands are brushed aside with a shrug:
“ 'Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down? That’s not my department,' says Wernher von Braun. "
From being the subject of satirical songs to being the inspiration for the title character in Stanley Kubrick's 'Dr. Strangelove', von Braun’s character was flattened into all sorts of molds, but how much of it is true? More than that, what was his place within the US-Soviet Space Race? And most important of all, what of his shadowy Soviet rival, a man who lived in almost complete obscurity and was known to the West (and to most of his countrymen ) by the opaque title of “Chief Designer”?
The book traces the development of the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union by a parallel exposition of the life and trials of the two extraordinary men who were its chief architects: Wernher von Braun and his nemesis Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.
The chapters alternate between von Braun and Korolev, but it’s not simply the story of space as a theater of an ideological Darwinian struggle for supremacy in the Cold War. It’s also a celebration, a commemoration, and a salute to all the pioneers (American and Soviet) who gambled their lives for the sake of furthering the goals of their respective homelands and yet in the process, widened the reach of the human spirit effectively liberating it from the shackles of earthly gravity.
The author explores how a simple dream of reaching for the stars carried both von Braun and Korolev into parallel paths, paths that even though pointed to the same end, carried wholly different caveats for both of them. Korolev was put in the Gulag during Stalin’s purges, tearing his family apart and nearly breaking him, only to find himself back in Stalin’s good graces due to the military need of achieving an advantage over the West in matters of rocketry, and using his engineering expertise to unlock the secrets of the German V-2 blueprints and components that fell into the hands of the Red Army after the fall of the Reich. This eventually led him to become the head of the Soviet space program.
Von Braun on the other hand, starts in categorically different circumstances. Born into aristocracy, he was recruited by the Nazi state to help her in producing its wonder weapons. His V-2 rocket became an emblem of both his pioneering vision and the marriage of the scientific explorer with the practical military needs of the army. This association, and his actions within this marriage will forever stain his reputation, (irreparably to some). He, too, found an employer after the war in the form of a world superpower. He, too, would be recruited to squeeze the last bit of technical know-how out of the German missile program. And he, too, would find himself heading an organization with the chief objective of conquering space...the difference being the ideology in whose name this crusade was to be held.
Both Korolev and von Braun, and hence the US and USSR, followed a similar progress (although it was a progress in which initially the Soviets claimed the lead) : conquering Earth’s orbit with metallic emissaries, then people, and ultimately putting this new breed of men, astronauts and cosmonauts, on the Moon.
The author periodically contrasts the circumstances of the Soviet space program with that of its US counterpart. While Korolev suffered from a lack of funds, political interference, non-existent testing facilities/infrastructure for his N-1 rocket engines, rivalry with his colleagues, not to mention bureaucratic inertia, von Braun had generous funding from the world’s wealthiest state, and he oversaw an organization where the atmosphere was an embodiment of the free market of ideas, where disagreements were encouraged, and the natural selection of concepts was based on their feasibility for space purposes and not forced to fit the mold of military utility.
My only critique is that the book concludes with the Moon landings of the Apollo program, while I would have wanted a more exhaustive exploration of the other missions as well (I was waiting for a treatment of the Venera missions, but alas, none was forthcoming).
I found the topic to be fascinating, the author’s treatment of it absorbing, and the narrative style to be the perfect balance between background information, the humanizing of the two central figures as complex individuals, and a drama tethered to historical facts. It is a must-read even if you are only vaguely interested in the topic. Highly recommended.
Seeing that, as I started with von Braun, it is only suitable to conclude with him as well, I cannot help but think of a famous quote often attributed to him ('attributed' is a strong word here). Whether the quote is true or of fictional origins is beside the point, for I think it perfectly identifies that most elusive strain in his character, one that is often squeezed out for the sake of simplifying an entire life experience to fit a not so complex caricature which affirms our beliefs. For Werner, his unbound obsession with anything to do with space, a curiosity that did not allow him the grace of containing his excitement when discussing such matters with others, was continuously held down firm to the ground by the practical needs of earthly matters, forcing him to surrender his vision for the sake of utility (though it helped that, and the space race is a testament to this, sometimes..just sometimes... both practicality and vision might converge to form something so beautifully inspiring).
It was rumored that when the first V-2 hit London he remarked to some of his colleagues: “The rocket worked perfectly except for landing on the wrong planet.”
Rating: 4/5.
January 18, 2010
There are kids who dream of Space almost out of the womb. They love space ships, astronauts, distant planets, the whole thing. My daughter falls into this category. I did not. Perhaps it was my blaise interest in science, or my generally risk adverse nature, but I have been more comfortable exploring Tomorrow Land, than the actual frontiers of tomorrow.
That's a long way of saying, while I have always had a fair grasp on the general history of our space program, its not something I have really ever understood in detail. I knew about Sputnik, the Germans, dogs, cats, monkeys in Space, and then Kennedy comes around and the US lands on the moon. The end.
Well, not so much. Cadbury's book really attaches a human component to a story that might otherwise get bogged down in technological detail. While not billed as such, the book is almost a parallel biography of Wernher von Braun and Sergei Korolev. Von Braun was in some ways the father of western rocketry -- first for Nazi Germany, later for the United States. Sergei Korolev was a homegrown Soviet genius who oversaw the Soviet Union's early success.
The book begins with "Operation Paperclip" which was the US effort to nab all the German scientists associated with the V2 and affiliated Nazi weapons programs. There is a lot of interesting skull drudgery as Cadbury leads us through the world of cloak and dagger that accompany's the imminent demise of the Nazi Germany. Of course, all of this is being carried out between erstwhile allies -- even Anglo-American relations are strained in this arena. The American's score big, and are able to scoop the lion's share of Germany's brain power up for themselves. But the Russians are no dummies, they collect as much of the second tier talent -- the technicians -- as the possibly can, and score a couple of minor coups themselves. However, the genius of the Soviet program will have to come from Soviet minds.
Fortunately, they have such a genius. Only one problem, he was purged to the gulags during one Stalin's fits onf insanity. Wisely, he is rehabilitated, and put to the task.
The contrast between Korolev and von Braun could not be greater or more interesting. Von Braun is everything that Korolove is not. He is suave and refined, a member of Germany's elite, when he moves to the United States he basically becomes the public face of the US Space program. Eventually, von Braun will command the immense resources of the United States towards his efforts. Yet for all of that, von Braun is still an alien, and vaguely resented for being a scientist from the recently defeated Nazi regime. Furthermore, his role in the death camps that serviced his V2 rocket production would become an issue in his lifetime. Its not an issue that was ever fully resolved. However, von Braun's enormous accomplishments will always be tarnished by his association with the monsterous German policies of slave labor.
Korolev, by contrast, was nearly killed by his government, yet still managed to return to the system and perform as well as any man could be asked to. He seemed to truly love the Soviet Union. While von Braun was a public figure, the Soviet's insisted that Korolev toil away in anonymity for fear of western assassination.
Korolev faced extraordinary odds in his efforts. Everything was in short supply in post-war Russia. Pitting multi-billion projects against the needs of Soviet defense (then without the aid of a delivery system to target the United States) seems a fool's errand. But Korolev's tenacity and vision eventually won out. His great ally was Khrushchev's love of showmanship. Koroloev gave Khrushchev a much beloved tool to rub the west's nose in Soviet accomplishment. Without it, its unlikely the Soviet program would have gotten as far as it did.
The race itself is a study in contrast. The Americans with large resources, followed a relatively steady but cautious path. After the tragedy of Apollo 1, the Americans were even more dedicated to the slow but certain path. The Soviet program, by contrast, was constantly running on a seat-of-the-pants and duct tape mentality. So long as Korolev was in charge, it seemed to work. The great surprise of Sputnik and the triumph of Gagarin were testaments to his work.
In fact, up until the very end, the Soviets were able to maintain an illusion that they were ahead. But so much of the edifice rested on Korolev's shoulders, the weigh and the pressue of it all finally killed him. At the clinch point of the space race, the Soviets lost their brightest star. It is hardly clear that had he continued to live the Soviets could have beat von Braun and the Americans. They certainly had the edge. But after his death, the great drive behind the Soviet program was gone. One calamity after another seemed to follow with the untimely death of Gagarin and the tragedy of Vladimir Komarov in Soyuz I.
As you can discern from this write up, you can't help liking Korolev a bit more than von Braun. He's the underdog. He is not the child of privilege, and to the best of anyone's knowledge, he should not have been tried for war crimes. This takes nothing away from our accomplishments as a nation. It surely does not diminish the work of the amazing men chosen for having "the right stuff." But it does make you realize that genius, tenacity and vision are not uniquely American gifts, and the Soviet system, for all its faults, could produce greatness of its own.
In short, if you are not already an expert on this element of Cold War history, I recommend Cadbury's work without qualification. It benefits from the vast additional information now available from the Soviet archives, which also allows for a human touch which makes all the difference.
That's a long way of saying, while I have always had a fair grasp on the general history of our space program, its not something I have really ever understood in detail. I knew about Sputnik, the Germans, dogs, cats, monkeys in Space, and then Kennedy comes around and the US lands on the moon. The end.
Well, not so much. Cadbury's book really attaches a human component to a story that might otherwise get bogged down in technological detail. While not billed as such, the book is almost a parallel biography of Wernher von Braun and Sergei Korolev. Von Braun was in some ways the father of western rocketry -- first for Nazi Germany, later for the United States. Sergei Korolev was a homegrown Soviet genius who oversaw the Soviet Union's early success.
The book begins with "Operation Paperclip" which was the US effort to nab all the German scientists associated with the V2 and affiliated Nazi weapons programs. There is a lot of interesting skull drudgery as Cadbury leads us through the world of cloak and dagger that accompany's the imminent demise of the Nazi Germany. Of course, all of this is being carried out between erstwhile allies -- even Anglo-American relations are strained in this arena. The American's score big, and are able to scoop the lion's share of Germany's brain power up for themselves. But the Russians are no dummies, they collect as much of the second tier talent -- the technicians -- as the possibly can, and score a couple of minor coups themselves. However, the genius of the Soviet program will have to come from Soviet minds.
Fortunately, they have such a genius. Only one problem, he was purged to the gulags during one Stalin's fits onf insanity. Wisely, he is rehabilitated, and put to the task.
The contrast between Korolev and von Braun could not be greater or more interesting. Von Braun is everything that Korolove is not. He is suave and refined, a member of Germany's elite, when he moves to the United States he basically becomes the public face of the US Space program. Eventually, von Braun will command the immense resources of the United States towards his efforts. Yet for all of that, von Braun is still an alien, and vaguely resented for being a scientist from the recently defeated Nazi regime. Furthermore, his role in the death camps that serviced his V2 rocket production would become an issue in his lifetime. Its not an issue that was ever fully resolved. However, von Braun's enormous accomplishments will always be tarnished by his association with the monsterous German policies of slave labor.
Korolev, by contrast, was nearly killed by his government, yet still managed to return to the system and perform as well as any man could be asked to. He seemed to truly love the Soviet Union. While von Braun was a public figure, the Soviet's insisted that Korolev toil away in anonymity for fear of western assassination.
Korolev faced extraordinary odds in his efforts. Everything was in short supply in post-war Russia. Pitting multi-billion projects against the needs of Soviet defense (then without the aid of a delivery system to target the United States) seems a fool's errand. But Korolev's tenacity and vision eventually won out. His great ally was Khrushchev's love of showmanship. Koroloev gave Khrushchev a much beloved tool to rub the west's nose in Soviet accomplishment. Without it, its unlikely the Soviet program would have gotten as far as it did.
The race itself is a study in contrast. The Americans with large resources, followed a relatively steady but cautious path. After the tragedy of Apollo 1, the Americans were even more dedicated to the slow but certain path. The Soviet program, by contrast, was constantly running on a seat-of-the-pants and duct tape mentality. So long as Korolev was in charge, it seemed to work. The great surprise of Sputnik and the triumph of Gagarin were testaments to his work.
In fact, up until the very end, the Soviets were able to maintain an illusion that they were ahead. But so much of the edifice rested on Korolev's shoulders, the weigh and the pressue of it all finally killed him. At the clinch point of the space race, the Soviets lost their brightest star. It is hardly clear that had he continued to live the Soviets could have beat von Braun and the Americans. They certainly had the edge. But after his death, the great drive behind the Soviet program was gone. One calamity after another seemed to follow with the untimely death of Gagarin and the tragedy of Vladimir Komarov in Soyuz I.
As you can discern from this write up, you can't help liking Korolev a bit more than von Braun. He's the underdog. He is not the child of privilege, and to the best of anyone's knowledge, he should not have been tried for war crimes. This takes nothing away from our accomplishments as a nation. It surely does not diminish the work of the amazing men chosen for having "the right stuff." But it does make you realize that genius, tenacity and vision are not uniquely American gifts, and the Soviet system, for all its faults, could produce greatness of its own.
In short, if you are not already an expert on this element of Cold War history, I recommend Cadbury's work without qualification. It benefits from the vast additional information now available from the Soviet archives, which also allows for a human touch which makes all the difference.
July 5, 2020
Pleasantly-written account from the earliest rocket tests to the moon landing, focused on the virtual race between Wernher von Braun and Sergey Korolev to launch space missions. That premise is not unproblematic - after all, von Braun was already an important man in Nazi rocket development when Korolev was a virtual nobody, and their focus on space was (at least for von Braun) a convenient explanation for why worked on any military rocket project put his way - he had to do it to follow his dream of space! In line with contemporary views of him, his responsibility for the Dora-Mittelwerk slave labor is only discussed "posthumously" - that is, in the epilogue.
June 4, 2023
Fascinating (and also handy for High school project research years later!).
February 17, 2025
Well written intriguing history of this time period.
November 17, 2021
Gripping tale of rivals
This was an excellent, readable book on the evolution of the space race and the two men that lead with their vision.
Excellent acknowledgement of Von Braun at the end - hopefully the author gets interested in japanese unit 731 and the resulting medicinal race and advances made off the back of horrific human actions of WW2.
This was an excellent, readable book on the evolution of the space race and the two men that lead with their vision.
Excellent acknowledgement of Von Braun at the end - hopefully the author gets interested in japanese unit 731 and the resulting medicinal race and advances made off the back of horrific human actions of WW2.
March 19, 2011
I didn't see the TV series that this book accompanies (a four-part drama-documentary filmed in Romania) but it's a good read anyway, framing the 1950's and 1960's competition between the USA and USSR as essentially a competition between two men, Wernher von Braun and Sergei Korolev, who never met but sent each other (and their countries) effective messages by rocket. The Wikipedia page objects that Cadbury is too harsh about Korolev's internal rival Glushko, but otherwise it seems to me an admirable piece of historical reconstruction, paring down the wealth of material available on the American side to match the smaller and more recently revealed archives from the Russian side.
Like most people I suppose I was more familiar with the von Braun story - from building the V2 with slave labour to chief architect of the Saturn V - and Cadbury devotes a lot of the early book to showing how the two men's different experiences of mid-twentieth century totalitarianism shaped their lives; von Braun successfully surrendered to the Americans with most of his team as the Nazi regime collapsed, Korolev imprisoned in the gulag for a decade. It is interesting that von Braun, rather than Korolev, was hampered by internal political constraints, largely because his face didn't fit and through the late 1950s various arms of the US government tried to find other, more American, engineers who would put stuff in space quicker (and they failed).
Having said that, Korolev had to go right to the top, one dispute between him and Glushko being personally resolved by Krushchev. Korolev was also fortunate in that the failures of his programme could be hushed up. But he seems to have had a lucky touch as well; he took a number of chances with the Soviet space programme, including with the lives of the astronauts, which fortunately succeeded (and intimidated the Americans), and after his death in 1966 the wheels came off - Vladimir Komarov killed on re-entry in 1967, the failure of the N1 rocket, the deaths of the Soyuz 11 crew; all problems that might easily have happened on Korolev's watch but somehow didn't.
Unlike a lot of space histories, this one runs out of steam when we get to the moon landing, having lost the central dynamic of the rivalry between the two chief engineers. But there's plenty to think about anyway.
Like most people I suppose I was more familiar with the von Braun story - from building the V2 with slave labour to chief architect of the Saturn V - and Cadbury devotes a lot of the early book to showing how the two men's different experiences of mid-twentieth century totalitarianism shaped their lives; von Braun successfully surrendered to the Americans with most of his team as the Nazi regime collapsed, Korolev imprisoned in the gulag for a decade. It is interesting that von Braun, rather than Korolev, was hampered by internal political constraints, largely because his face didn't fit and through the late 1950s various arms of the US government tried to find other, more American, engineers who would put stuff in space quicker (and they failed).
Having said that, Korolev had to go right to the top, one dispute between him and Glushko being personally resolved by Krushchev. Korolev was also fortunate in that the failures of his programme could be hushed up. But he seems to have had a lucky touch as well; he took a number of chances with the Soviet space programme, including with the lives of the astronauts, which fortunately succeeded (and intimidated the Americans), and after his death in 1966 the wheels came off - Vladimir Komarov killed on re-entry in 1967, the failure of the N1 rocket, the deaths of the Soyuz 11 crew; all problems that might easily have happened on Korolev's watch but somehow didn't.
Unlike a lot of space histories, this one runs out of steam when we get to the moon landing, having lost the central dynamic of the rivalry between the two chief engineers. But there's plenty to think about anyway.
December 31, 2016
É história, mas lê-se como um romance. A história da era espacial é aqui contada através de duas figuras de charneira, Von Braun e Korolev, focando-se nos seus esforços para abrir o espaço enquanto nova fronteira. Por detrás estão as potentes máquinas políticas e militares da guerra fria, que viram na corrida ao espaço uma forma de desenvolver poderio militar e prestígio político. Uma história que começa nos escombros da Alemanha no final da II Guerra, passa pelo desenvolvimento dos primeiros foguetões capazes de ultrapassar os limites terrestres e das primeiras missões tripuladas, e termina com Neil Armstrong a deixar a primeira pegada humana na Lua.
Necessariamente superficial, o livro não deixa de tocar no passado controverso de Von Braun, na violência da vida de Korolev num sistema opressivo, e as peculiaridades da Guerra Fria. Percebe-se o longo e tortuoso caminho, feito de mais falhanços do que sucessos, até a astronáutica se ter tornado rotineira (mas não cem por cento fiável, como somos recordados sempre que um lançador explode ou falha a órbita). Ler as suas lutas e desventuras é perceber o quanto o sonho de ir ao espaço é incompreendido e tido como inútil, apesar de todo o progresso científico e económico que proporciona. Uma sensação que se mantém hoje, onde os orçamentos para a exploração espacial são muito limitados, e a percepção generalista pende menos para o fascínio da descoberta e mais para a ideia de que é inútil torrar dinheiro em foguetões enquanto na Terra persistem tantos problemas. Opiniões geralmente escritas e partilhadas utilizando dispositivos computacionais dependentes da precisão trazida pelo GPS, dando um pequeno exemplo da incongruência.
Necessariamente superficial, o livro não deixa de tocar no passado controverso de Von Braun, na violência da vida de Korolev num sistema opressivo, e as peculiaridades da Guerra Fria. Percebe-se o longo e tortuoso caminho, feito de mais falhanços do que sucessos, até a astronáutica se ter tornado rotineira (mas não cem por cento fiável, como somos recordados sempre que um lançador explode ou falha a órbita). Ler as suas lutas e desventuras é perceber o quanto o sonho de ir ao espaço é incompreendido e tido como inútil, apesar de todo o progresso científico e económico que proporciona. Uma sensação que se mantém hoje, onde os orçamentos para a exploração espacial são muito limitados, e a percepção generalista pende menos para o fascínio da descoberta e mais para a ideia de que é inútil torrar dinheiro em foguetões enquanto na Terra persistem tantos problemas. Opiniões geralmente escritas e partilhadas utilizando dispositivos computacionais dependentes da precisão trazida pelo GPS, dando um pequeno exemplo da incongruência.
May 6, 2012
I really enjoyed this book - it is a well written, and easy to read! It is well researched and quite balanced with out getting bogged down in the technicalities of rocketry.
Having read and watched a fair bit about the American side of the space race, I have always been more interested iin the moon and lunar modules, so had taken the rocket developmetn for granted as "the easy bit". I also had treated the line "the space race was about ICBM development" as throw away critism by moon-hoax believers. There is certaintly some truth in the parallel development of the 2 rocket systems, but after reading this I would have to say lunar, cryogenic fuel rockets were developed alos inspite of the ICBM acid fuel long range, long storage rockets.
The pesonal stories had many big surprises for me - Korolev's because of the secrecy and his shameful treatment by communist military dictatorships, and Von Braun's because he and his core German rocket team's past is so grubby its leaves a nasty human stain on a great acheivement that it is alomst in the interest of the on going manned space exploration to not talk about.
Korolev's story and the amazing party tricks he was able to conjure from nothing was fascinating. More compelling than fascinating was the back history of Von Braun - "A man whose allegiance; Is ruled by expedience" - truly the Robert Johnson of space exploration, he practically lived at the cross roads at midnight.
Given that it had an accompanying TV series it could have had some more photos. A timeline showing Korolev and Von Braun main events and another showing the USA / USSR rocketry and space achievements would have been useful.
Having read and watched a fair bit about the American side of the space race, I have always been more interested iin the moon and lunar modules, so had taken the rocket developmetn for granted as "the easy bit". I also had treated the line "the space race was about ICBM development" as throw away critism by moon-hoax believers. There is certaintly some truth in the parallel development of the 2 rocket systems, but after reading this I would have to say lunar, cryogenic fuel rockets were developed alos inspite of the ICBM acid fuel long range, long storage rockets.
The pesonal stories had many big surprises for me - Korolev's because of the secrecy and his shameful treatment by communist military dictatorships, and Von Braun's because he and his core German rocket team's past is so grubby its leaves a nasty human stain on a great acheivement that it is alomst in the interest of the on going manned space exploration to not talk about.
Korolev's story and the amazing party tricks he was able to conjure from nothing was fascinating. More compelling than fascinating was the back history of Von Braun - "A man whose allegiance; Is ruled by expedience" - truly the Robert Johnson of space exploration, he practically lived at the cross roads at midnight.
Given that it had an accompanying TV series it could have had some more photos. A timeline showing Korolev and Von Braun main events and another showing the USA / USSR rocketry and space achievements would have been useful.
August 23, 2008
If you are a Junior Space Cadet (First Class) like me, you'll love this book. Cadbury follows the parallel careers of Wernher von Braun, celebrity former Nazi rocket scientist, and Sergei Korolev, the Soviet Chief Designer whose identity was kept secret from foreigners and countrymen alike until his death. This is a really good story that collects the triumphs and failures of each man as they both reached for their dream of putting men on the Moon. It's filled with amazing details of both the US and Soviet space programs that I did not know. I found the number and quality of the one-off tricks pulled by the Soviets to demonstrate superior progress in space, and the American response, especially amusing. While often lighthearted, the book is also a window into the homicidal madness of the Nazis and the grinding fear, oppression, and deprivation of Soviet totalitarianism. I imagine most people would like this book - it's not just for Moon junkies like me. Check it out. (The book is supposed to accompany a BCC documentary on the same topic - which also aired on the National Geographic Channel , which I don't receive. Anyway, the book stands on it's own, and I'll look for the DVD, or maybe I can find a bittorrent.)
January 23, 2013
The subject of the space race between the US and the USSR through the moon landing in 1969 has been taken up by many writers. But Cadbury finds room for something new. She gives a great deal of attention to the first efforts in Germany under Von Braun that is something between adulation and condemnation -- in fact, she's often rough on Von Braun's shady SS connections. She also breathes life into the work by Korolev on the Russian side, illuminating his struggles from the gulag to surprising early space successes. In fact the book brings into focus the remarkable parallels of Von Braun's and Korolev's frustrating dealings with political authority focused on weaponry. The writing is well paced and the storytelling is engaging throughout.
January 25, 2014
This is a very well researched and pieced together book about the dynamics of the space race between the U.S and U.S.S.R. Contains good bibliographical references.
Cadbury, in this volume, presents an interesting look at the Cold War through the eyes of the respective space programs. Not only does she examine the evidence of what was happening with the respective programs, but provides a contextual backdrop with other events that were happening during the Cold War. This book further enlightened me to the importance of the Space Race on the outcome of the Cold War.
Cadbury, in this volume, presents an interesting look at the Cold War through the eyes of the respective space programs. Not only does she examine the evidence of what was happening with the respective programs, but provides a contextual backdrop with other events that were happening during the Cold War. This book further enlightened me to the importance of the Space Race on the outcome of the Cold War.
Read
June 6, 2016Balanced intro to the space race
A thoroughly enjoyable mission through the space race from sputnik to the Apollo missions. I was riveted the entire time, and couldn't put the book down. Most enjoyable was the glimpse into the soviet program, and a close look at korlovev. This Russian amazed me with his determination. His sad life at complete odds with his gigantic legacy for humanity. A must read for anyone easing into space race history.
A thoroughly enjoyable mission through the space race from sputnik to the Apollo missions. I was riveted the entire time, and couldn't put the book down. Most enjoyable was the glimpse into the soviet program, and a close look at korlovev. This Russian amazed me with his determination. His sad life at complete odds with his gigantic legacy for humanity. A must read for anyone easing into space race history.
July 23, 2020
A very informative and enjoyable read.
October 20, 2022
Space Race covers the development of rocket technology during World War II in Germany and then the military imperative the United States and USSR felt to build the most advanced missiles to help them gain control of the post-war world. Cadbury follows the US and Soviet efforts by focusing on the most prominent rocket builders on each side - German emigre (and former Nazi) Werner von Braun in the US and Sergei Korolev in the Soviet Union. She relates well the risks that each side dealt with both successfully and unsuccessfully while pushing their rocket programs to the absolute brink of human and technical capability, and shows just how quickly and costly those successes were achieved. I was reminded of just how many triumphs and firsts-in-history the Soviets achieved in their space program and how, during the height of the Cold War, they were used as examples of the Soviet system's superiority that of the West. And always at the core of it were von Braun and Korolev, men who never met but were both driven by a shared decades-long dream of sending men and women into space.
In the Epilogue, Cadbury tells us about the uncovering, mostly after his death, of von Braun's Nazi past. Through decades of denials, von Braun had escaped responsibility for the truly horrific conditions that German prisoners were forced to build the Reich's terror rockets under. The author's depiction of those conditions, discovered by American servicemen who liberated the camp outside the Mittelwerk assembly facility, were appropriately gruesome as thousands of workers died from disease, starvation, overwork, and summary execution. Records of von Braun's involvement - as well as those he worked with in Germany and the US - in these crimes was either ignored or covered up by the American bureaucracy more interested in capturing the upper hand in the Cold War than in apportioning responsibility for crimes against humanity.
The question then is how much to apportion to von Braun. He clearly knew of and benefited from the slave laborers who built his rockets, Hitler's last best hope of turning the tide of the war in his favor. On at least one occasion, he participated in the process of selecting workers for the rocket production facilities from among prisoners in German custody, knowing in all likelihood the severity of treatment the were to endure. In short, he took full advantage of the Reich's horrors for his own benefit. He was an opportunist, and perhaps a coward for not opposing the crimes he witnessed, but falls short of bearing responsibility for conceiving, organizing, and engaging in the Nazis' worst crimes. Perhaps the best one can say about his Nazi past was that von Braun's version of evil was in service of a cause less banal than that of others. And just like with the Nazis, von Braun made himself so singularly indispensable to American aims that he could elide accountability - and even go so far as to accrue acclaim - for as long as he did.
On a far less significant note, I had a couple of quibbles with the book. Cadbury described on several occasions the great risk of poorly mixed fuels posed to rocket engines, creating pressure waves that tore them apart. One could almost get the impression from her writing this as often as she did that this was the only threat to a rocket's successful performance. The other minor criticism I have is that she tended to represent a rocket's thrust in pounds when describing American rockets and in tons for Soviet ones. This required the albeit minor task of converting pounds of thrust to tons or vice versa to get an idea of the comparison between the US and Soviet capabilities. Perhaps it's the old engineer in me, but it seems that presenting the thrust in the same units would have been a simple and preferable way to convey this to the reader.
In the Epilogue, Cadbury tells us about the uncovering, mostly after his death, of von Braun's Nazi past. Through decades of denials, von Braun had escaped responsibility for the truly horrific conditions that German prisoners were forced to build the Reich's terror rockets under. The author's depiction of those conditions, discovered by American servicemen who liberated the camp outside the Mittelwerk assembly facility, were appropriately gruesome as thousands of workers died from disease, starvation, overwork, and summary execution. Records of von Braun's involvement - as well as those he worked with in Germany and the US - in these crimes was either ignored or covered up by the American bureaucracy more interested in capturing the upper hand in the Cold War than in apportioning responsibility for crimes against humanity.
The question then is how much to apportion to von Braun. He clearly knew of and benefited from the slave laborers who built his rockets, Hitler's last best hope of turning the tide of the war in his favor. On at least one occasion, he participated in the process of selecting workers for the rocket production facilities from among prisoners in German custody, knowing in all likelihood the severity of treatment the were to endure. In short, he took full advantage of the Reich's horrors for his own benefit. He was an opportunist, and perhaps a coward for not opposing the crimes he witnessed, but falls short of bearing responsibility for conceiving, organizing, and engaging in the Nazis' worst crimes. Perhaps the best one can say about his Nazi past was that von Braun's version of evil was in service of a cause less banal than that of others. And just like with the Nazis, von Braun made himself so singularly indispensable to American aims that he could elide accountability - and even go so far as to accrue acclaim - for as long as he did.
On a far less significant note, I had a couple of quibbles with the book. Cadbury described on several occasions the great risk of poorly mixed fuels posed to rocket engines, creating pressure waves that tore them apart. One could almost get the impression from her writing this as often as she did that this was the only threat to a rocket's successful performance. The other minor criticism I have is that she tended to represent a rocket's thrust in pounds when describing American rockets and in tons for Soviet ones. This required the albeit minor task of converting pounds of thrust to tons or vice versa to get an idea of the comparison between the US and Soviet capabilities. Perhaps it's the old engineer in me, but it seems that presenting the thrust in the same units would have been a simple and preferable way to convey this to the reader.
November 14, 2025
As kids, we are taught about the biggest milestones of the conquest of space by the Soviets and the US. Sputnik, Gagarin, and Armstrong are all familiar names. Yet, the story about how the USSR and the US raced each other to the moon is not that well known, and few people in the West realize how close it was. This book brings a detailed story from the end of World War 2 to the 1969 moon landing and gives us an astonishing look at the individuals behind this epic endeavor.
The book starts with the end of WW2 and the discovery of the V2 manufacturing sites by US troops. The horrors of what they encounter, starved prisoners, and piles of skeleton-like bodies are beyond anyone's imagination. It reminds the reader about von Braun's involvement in the horrific treatment of Jews as he was working on his rockets.
As per the author, von Braun had ideas about travel in space for a long time and when the war neared the end, he was well aware of his value and what kind of bargain he could strike in order to save his life.
When we think about how the history of the race for the conquest of space is told, we are left with a feeling of awe when we see that the USSR beat the US most of the time (they sent the first man in space and launched the first satellite). More than that, we are left with a question: Why? In this book, the answer becomes clear quite quickly. While the Soviets started work on rockets as soon as they grabbed the German scientists, the US lost time due to their reluctance to work with Nazis involved in war crimes. When in 1950, the Soviets made a successful launch that marked a milestone, the US had not even started.
Following that, it's a succession of Soviet wins. They are the first to send a satellite, the first to send a living being, and the first to send out a man in space. In the meantime, the US mostly has incidents.
The shift occurred after Gagarin's flight in space. The US quickly followed up, showing what they were capable of and demonstrating that the gap was getting shorter. However, what became the major differentiator was the fact that, starting from this moment, the US really gave von Braun the means to achieve his ends while Korolev, the leader of the Soviet space program, had to convince the Soviet authorities of the military potential of his projects. In addition, when US funding was focused on von Braun's project, Soviets funding was split between Korolev's project and others.
Eventually, in 1965, the Soviets managed to focus all their resources, which allowed them to compete with the US.
However, this was short-lived as Korolev, who was in poor health, suddenly died during surgery. No one could replace his leadership. In addition, the Soviets started to accumulate setbacks, including the death of the first man in space, Gagarin.
Eventually, the 2 powers were getting racing for the moon and what is most astonishing is the fact that the US-manned flight to the moon was set for July 16, 1969, while the Soviets were aiming for July 3 in order to win the race. The margin was really thin, but the Soviet launch failed, and the US won the race. After that, however, interest for the conquest of space wore down, which is a shame since there were plans to reach Mars by 1983. When we think where we are today, it is hard not to lament the fact that we could have made huge strides in the discovery of our galaxy had we kept investing as heavily as we did during the Cold War.
To conclude, this concise and highly readable book offers a great way to discover "the epic battle between America and the Soviet Union for dominion of space."
The book starts with the end of WW2 and the discovery of the V2 manufacturing sites by US troops. The horrors of what they encounter, starved prisoners, and piles of skeleton-like bodies are beyond anyone's imagination. It reminds the reader about von Braun's involvement in the horrific treatment of Jews as he was working on his rockets.
As per the author, von Braun had ideas about travel in space for a long time and when the war neared the end, he was well aware of his value and what kind of bargain he could strike in order to save his life.
When we think about how the history of the race for the conquest of space is told, we are left with a feeling of awe when we see that the USSR beat the US most of the time (they sent the first man in space and launched the first satellite). More than that, we are left with a question: Why? In this book, the answer becomes clear quite quickly. While the Soviets started work on rockets as soon as they grabbed the German scientists, the US lost time due to their reluctance to work with Nazis involved in war crimes. When in 1950, the Soviets made a successful launch that marked a milestone, the US had not even started.
Following that, it's a succession of Soviet wins. They are the first to send a satellite, the first to send a living being, and the first to send out a man in space. In the meantime, the US mostly has incidents.
The shift occurred after Gagarin's flight in space. The US quickly followed up, showing what they were capable of and demonstrating that the gap was getting shorter. However, what became the major differentiator was the fact that, starting from this moment, the US really gave von Braun the means to achieve his ends while Korolev, the leader of the Soviet space program, had to convince the Soviet authorities of the military potential of his projects. In addition, when US funding was focused on von Braun's project, Soviets funding was split between Korolev's project and others.
Eventually, in 1965, the Soviets managed to focus all their resources, which allowed them to compete with the US.
However, this was short-lived as Korolev, who was in poor health, suddenly died during surgery. No one could replace his leadership. In addition, the Soviets started to accumulate setbacks, including the death of the first man in space, Gagarin.
Eventually, the 2 powers were getting racing for the moon and what is most astonishing is the fact that the US-manned flight to the moon was set for July 16, 1969, while the Soviets were aiming for July 3 in order to win the race. The margin was really thin, but the Soviet launch failed, and the US won the race. After that, however, interest for the conquest of space wore down, which is a shame since there were plans to reach Mars by 1983. When we think where we are today, it is hard not to lament the fact that we could have made huge strides in the discovery of our galaxy had we kept investing as heavily as we did during the Cold War.
To conclude, this concise and highly readable book offers a great way to discover "the epic battle between America and the Soviet Union for dominion of space."
August 2, 2018
A very engaging book written with a superb balance of scientific detail and pace, alternating the life stories of Von Braun and Korolev the two men at the heart of the space programmes of the USA & USSR from the late 40s all the way through to the race for the moon in the late 60s
The author balances the political and pure science imperatives in a finely nuanced fashion not shying away from trying to shine as much light as possible on von Braun's work for the Nazis in WWII and the use of forced labour for his programmes that he seems to have been complicit in.
The urgency of both the Americans and Soviets to capture German engineers and scientists as the war came to an end blurred a number of lines and the efforts of all parties is well reflected here.
The lives of Korolev & von Braun post war and their attempts to drive on their nation's space programmes under political pressure and lack of funding, often at the same time is fascinating.
Korolev, the genius workaholic whom was sentenced to the gulags by Stalin yet still remained devoted to the Motherland is a fascinating character, he clearly worked himself to an early death and after his demise the Soviet programme fell away as von Braun's Apollo missions raced towards the Moon.
The added bittersweet element to Korolev's life being that while alive the political hierarchy of USSR feared his assassination so kept his identity secret, only in death was he celebrated for the genius he was rather than being anonymously referred to as The Chief Engineer.
The incredible bravery of the cosmonauts and astronauts , some who made it, some who were killed despite being fully aware of the risks at play shines through. Gagarin blazes across this story like the star he was, everyday man of the land transformed into Star of The Soviet Union as he became the first human to orbit the earth, prevented from flying in space again to protect the hero of the nation, he died piloting a jet fighter in 1968 another huge blow to the USSR prestige.
After the Apollo triumphs in landing on the moon it seemed the roles of two main players were set by the success , Korolev destinedto be forgotten, von Braun celebrated, but in a turn of history well written by the author she reflects on the increasing scrutiny that von Braun's wartime activities have been exposed to after his death in 1977, to the extent that one of his close associates chose to renounce US citizenship rather than face a case relating to forced labour.
All of this while Korolev's legacy has emerged from the shadows.
A fascinating , detailed and engaging book
The author balances the political and pure science imperatives in a finely nuanced fashion not shying away from trying to shine as much light as possible on von Braun's work for the Nazis in WWII and the use of forced labour for his programmes that he seems to have been complicit in.
The urgency of both the Americans and Soviets to capture German engineers and scientists as the war came to an end blurred a number of lines and the efforts of all parties is well reflected here.
The lives of Korolev & von Braun post war and their attempts to drive on their nation's space programmes under political pressure and lack of funding, often at the same time is fascinating.
Korolev, the genius workaholic whom was sentenced to the gulags by Stalin yet still remained devoted to the Motherland is a fascinating character, he clearly worked himself to an early death and after his demise the Soviet programme fell away as von Braun's Apollo missions raced towards the Moon.
The added bittersweet element to Korolev's life being that while alive the political hierarchy of USSR feared his assassination so kept his identity secret, only in death was he celebrated for the genius he was rather than being anonymously referred to as The Chief Engineer.
The incredible bravery of the cosmonauts and astronauts , some who made it, some who were killed despite being fully aware of the risks at play shines through. Gagarin blazes across this story like the star he was, everyday man of the land transformed into Star of The Soviet Union as he became the first human to orbit the earth, prevented from flying in space again to protect the hero of the nation, he died piloting a jet fighter in 1968 another huge blow to the USSR prestige.
After the Apollo triumphs in landing on the moon it seemed the roles of two main players were set by the success , Korolev destinedto be forgotten, von Braun celebrated, but in a turn of history well written by the author she reflects on the increasing scrutiny that von Braun's wartime activities have been exposed to after his death in 1977, to the extent that one of his close associates chose to renounce US citizenship rather than face a case relating to forced labour.
All of this while Korolev's legacy has emerged from the shadows.
A fascinating , detailed and engaging book
April 17, 2022
Andrew Chaikin's A Man on the Moon is the seminal account of the Apollo programme, but it starts with the space race already effectively lost. There's a whole other book to be written on the events before Apollo 8, and Space Race is it, seamlessly filling in the start of the story back to World War II rocket development.
Werner von Braun's war-time exploits have enough material for a book of their own - the pressures of working for a regime as likely to kill you as support you come through, as do the pressure von Braun puts himself under. An early anecdote - von Braun, unable to understand why his rocket's new guidance system keeps going awry, decides to stand on the rocket's target and fires it at himself from 200 miles away so he can try see the problem for himself; the rocket, of course, is exactly on target for once and von Braun is nearly killed - sets the tone as journalistic and chatty rather than technical.
The race itself only starts once a second competitor joins - in this case, the Soviets. Their von Braun equivalent, Sergey Korolev, has his identity kept so secret for fear of American assassination attempts that it's only after he dies, literally working himself to death, that the Soviets acknowledge who he is. And with the story pitched as a race between von Braun and Korolev (in their capacities as the heads of the US and Soviet space agencies), this secret identity adds an unusual extra dimension as Korolev can read all about von Braun, but von Braun doesn't even know Korolev exists. Yet Cadbury shows how they both inspire each others' efforts nonetheless; the "race" is very much real and the pressure on one side as the other achieves a new first is evident.
Space Race covers Sputnik, Soyuz, Jupiter, Luna, Saturn and Apollo, touches on the disasters of Apollo 1, Nedelin, Vanguard and the particularly unfortunate Vladimir Komarov, whose Soyuz 1 malfunctioned in space, leaving him spinning and vomiting helplessly in orbit. After his wife is brought into the control room to say her goodbyes - it isn't clear from the text whether this actually happened or is just, as commonly reported, an urban legend, a rare and minor criticism of the book - he incredibly manages to take manual control of the craft, align it correctly, get through re-entry...and just when everything is looking good, his parachute fails. And his back-up. He crashes into the ground at 400mph, the first fatality of the space race.
The Soviets take all the early honours in the race - first satellite, first man in space, first item on the moon - but then the differences appear which lead to the US winning the only race that really matters, that of landing a man on the moon. The Soviet engineers are haphazard while the US demand near-100% reliability from their suppliers. The Soviets continue to rely on Korolev - and never recover from his death in 1966 - while the US build an agency which absorbs and supports von Braun. The US supports NASA to an almost absurd degree, above and beyond what the Soviets can afford. And in the end of the day, the Soviets always seem more interested in rockets to launch military attacks while NASA are interested in landing on the moon.
The race peters out towards the end - despite Soviet bravado, it's inevitable the US will land a man on the moon first, and the only question that remains is whether they'll meet Kennedy's target of the end of the decade. The Soviet probe Luna 15 crashing into the moon while Armstrong and Aldrin are walking on it is a suitable end to a fascinating read. And then it's one small step over to Chaikin to continue the story.
Werner von Braun's war-time exploits have enough material for a book of their own - the pressures of working for a regime as likely to kill you as support you come through, as do the pressure von Braun puts himself under. An early anecdote - von Braun, unable to understand why his rocket's new guidance system keeps going awry, decides to stand on the rocket's target and fires it at himself from 200 miles away so he can try see the problem for himself; the rocket, of course, is exactly on target for once and von Braun is nearly killed - sets the tone as journalistic and chatty rather than technical.
The race itself only starts once a second competitor joins - in this case, the Soviets. Their von Braun equivalent, Sergey Korolev, has his identity kept so secret for fear of American assassination attempts that it's only after he dies, literally working himself to death, that the Soviets acknowledge who he is. And with the story pitched as a race between von Braun and Korolev (in their capacities as the heads of the US and Soviet space agencies), this secret identity adds an unusual extra dimension as Korolev can read all about von Braun, but von Braun doesn't even know Korolev exists. Yet Cadbury shows how they both inspire each others' efforts nonetheless; the "race" is very much real and the pressure on one side as the other achieves a new first is evident.
Space Race covers Sputnik, Soyuz, Jupiter, Luna, Saturn and Apollo, touches on the disasters of Apollo 1, Nedelin, Vanguard and the particularly unfortunate Vladimir Komarov, whose Soyuz 1 malfunctioned in space, leaving him spinning and vomiting helplessly in orbit. After his wife is brought into the control room to say her goodbyes - it isn't clear from the text whether this actually happened or is just, as commonly reported, an urban legend, a rare and minor criticism of the book - he incredibly manages to take manual control of the craft, align it correctly, get through re-entry...and just when everything is looking good, his parachute fails. And his back-up. He crashes into the ground at 400mph, the first fatality of the space race.
The Soviets take all the early honours in the race - first satellite, first man in space, first item on the moon - but then the differences appear which lead to the US winning the only race that really matters, that of landing a man on the moon. The Soviet engineers are haphazard while the US demand near-100% reliability from their suppliers. The Soviets continue to rely on Korolev - and never recover from his death in 1966 - while the US build an agency which absorbs and supports von Braun. The US supports NASA to an almost absurd degree, above and beyond what the Soviets can afford. And in the end of the day, the Soviets always seem more interested in rockets to launch military attacks while NASA are interested in landing on the moon.
The race peters out towards the end - despite Soviet bravado, it's inevitable the US will land a man on the moon first, and the only question that remains is whether they'll meet Kennedy's target of the end of the decade. The Soviet probe Luna 15 crashing into the moon while Armstrong and Aldrin are walking on it is a suitable end to a fascinating read. And then it's one small step over to Chaikin to continue the story.
January 29, 2025
Rating: 4.5
This was a fascinating book, very interesting and full of details I didn't know about the space race. Parts of the book were compelling and thrilling, like scenes out of a movie--especially the real-life wartime experiences of von Braun and Korolev and the challenges and dangers faced by the astronauts. I was less interested in the technical descriptions of the rocket-development process, but hey...it's a book about technology and space, so what did I expect?
Favorite passages:
"...but Kammler was distracted. He had been promoted yet again and now carried the impressive title of ‘Special Commissioner for breaking the Air Terror’, an impossible, Canute-like task."
"Kammler, if he got impatient and wanted to drive on, would wake the slumbering officers of his suite with a burst from his machine gun."
"Was the man a genius who should be brought to America as instructed, or a war criminal who had inflicted a life of unutterable misery on his fellow men?"
- The question about Von braun....
‘That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.’
The Soviet viewing room erupted with applause as they stared at the grainy images of Armstrong, looking like a moon creature in his pale, puffed-up suit in the pale new world so blanched of colour. ‘Everyone forgot that we were all citizens of different countries on Earth,’ Alexei Leonov wrote. ‘That moment really united the human race.’ A few hours later, the Soviet probe, Luna 15, crashed at almost 300 mph into the suitably named ‘Sea of Crises’ on the moon’s surface.
This was a fascinating book, very interesting and full of details I didn't know about the space race. Parts of the book were compelling and thrilling, like scenes out of a movie--especially the real-life wartime experiences of von Braun and Korolev and the challenges and dangers faced by the astronauts. I was less interested in the technical descriptions of the rocket-development process, but hey...it's a book about technology and space, so what did I expect?
Favorite passages:
"...but Kammler was distracted. He had been promoted yet again and now carried the impressive title of ‘Special Commissioner for breaking the Air Terror’, an impossible, Canute-like task."
"Kammler, if he got impatient and wanted to drive on, would wake the slumbering officers of his suite with a burst from his machine gun."
"Was the man a genius who should be brought to America as instructed, or a war criminal who had inflicted a life of unutterable misery on his fellow men?"
- The question about Von braun....
‘That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.’
The Soviet viewing room erupted with applause as they stared at the grainy images of Armstrong, looking like a moon creature in his pale, puffed-up suit in the pale new world so blanched of colour. ‘Everyone forgot that we were all citizens of different countries on Earth,’ Alexei Leonov wrote. ‘That moment really united the human race.’ A few hours later, the Soviet probe, Luna 15, crashed at almost 300 mph into the suitably named ‘Sea of Crises’ on the moon’s surface.
October 19, 2017
A very good documentary history of the frenetic extension of the Cold War between the US and USSR to achieve superiority in spaceflight and land a man on the moon. The background and experiences of Werner von Braun and Sergei Korolev are compared and contrasted with an interesting re-evaluation of the men and their contributions to mankind's adventure in leaving the planet earth. Both men and their respective countries attacked the problems inherent in spaceflight from different perspectives and with different tools. These details are well described in this book without being reduced to physics problems. The World leaders of the era and their contributions to spaceflight are also described (Eisenhower, Stalin, Khrushchev, Kennedy, Johnson, etc.) within the context of the narrative. Personal details of the principals, including family issues and illnesses are also included. This is a good read on the topic without being too dense for the non-scientist. This would make a good choice for a book club unafraid to venture into non-fiction.
April 13, 2020
Very interesting book about the last days of the V2 programme in Nazi Germany which spawned the brains and hardware for the start of the Space programme in both the Soviet Union and the USA. The book then goes onto detail the development of both Soviet and American rockets and Space capsules as each tries to achieve firsts in Space. The book ends with the successful landing on the Moon by Apollo 11, manned by Michael Collins, who stayed in the command module, Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, and his colleague Buz Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the Moon. Heroes of this story are Korolev in the USSR and von Braun in the USA. Von Braun was the man responsible for the design of the German V2.
This book re-ignited the excitement that I felt in 1969 (aged 13) when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. Its hard to describe the awe and wonderment that mission imparted to me and, I believe, many millions of people around the world at that time.
This book re-ignited the excitement that I felt in 1969 (aged 13) when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. Its hard to describe the awe and wonderment that mission imparted to me and, I believe, many millions of people around the world at that time.
February 3, 2022
I wanted to find a single volume history of the early days of the "space race" between the US and the Soviet Union and this fit the bill, at least in theory. In the end it was a little disappointing.
The author quickly settles into biography mode on the two people at the heart of much of the action, Korolev and Von Braun, rather than writing a real history and in the process glosses over details of other parts of the technical "race" that don't involve these two. Much of the narrative is taken up with each man's personal and political struggles, which is fine, but the broader history is lost as a result, as is some of the technical detail.
We get a decent amount of detail up to about the Gagarin flight, but the rest is rushed through, partly perhaps because Korolev died shortly after this. But nevertheless I did learn some interesting details of the earlier phases and it was certainly never boring. I just felt a little short changed at times.
The author quickly settles into biography mode on the two people at the heart of much of the action, Korolev and Von Braun, rather than writing a real history and in the process glosses over details of other parts of the technical "race" that don't involve these two. Much of the narrative is taken up with each man's personal and political struggles, which is fine, but the broader history is lost as a result, as is some of the technical detail.
We get a decent amount of detail up to about the Gagarin flight, but the rest is rushed through, partly perhaps because Korolev died shortly after this. But nevertheless I did learn some interesting details of the earlier phases and it was certainly never boring. I just felt a little short changed at times.
August 15, 2021
Space legacy from a third party
I grew up fascinated by the space race - from the American perspective. The Soviets were our foe s from my point of view. Those who helped us were heroes, those who challenged us were our competitors.
But this author sees the space race, not as a Yank nor Soviet, but as a Briton, and that perspective is very useful and relevant.
Yes, the Soviet system led to their early victories but also their long-term failures.
But America’s program had its woes, too, not the least of which was the use of and even leadership from men who had been Nazis, perhaps willing or even complicit in atrocities.
This author’s view is not tainted by either side’s national zeal, and that is a refreshing view.
If you remain fascinated by the space race, this is a good read.
I grew up fascinated by the space race - from the American perspective. The Soviets were our foe s from my point of view. Those who helped us were heroes, those who challenged us were our competitors.
But this author sees the space race, not as a Yank nor Soviet, but as a Briton, and that perspective is very useful and relevant.
Yes, the Soviet system led to their early victories but also their long-term failures.
But America’s program had its woes, too, not the least of which was the use of and even leadership from men who had been Nazis, perhaps willing or even complicit in atrocities.
This author’s view is not tainted by either side’s national zeal, and that is a refreshing view.
If you remain fascinated by the space race, this is a good read.
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