The Race: The Complete True Story of How America Beat Russia to the Moon

by James Schefter

"Indispensable to anyone interested in the space race."-- Houston Chronicle

In 1963, a young reporter for Time-Life named James Schefter was given a dream cover America's race to the moon.  Since the astronauts were under contract to Life for their stories, Schefter was given complete access to the biggest players at NASA.  But at the time, his primary role was to excite the public about the new, expensive, experimental space program, and he couldn't write about everything he saw.  In The Race , he does.

From drunken astronaut escapades to near disasters to ferocious political battles, the race to the moon was anything but the smooth process it appeared.  There were vicious fights between the engineers, feuds and practical jokes, near-fatal accidents, and dozens of brave, smart, and colorful characters pulling off the greatest exploration in the history of humankind. Like Undaunted Courage and D-Day , this is a tale of achieving the extraordinary against extraordinary odds.  As incredible as the "official" story of the space program is, the true, behind-the-scenes tale is more thrilling, more entertaining, and ultimately more ennobling.

Genres: History, Space, Nonfiction, Science, Engineering

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of one of the greatest races in Human history - the race to put a man on the moon. In 1963, a young reporter named Jim Schefter was given the job to cover America's race to the moon. He was given unprecedented access to the astronauts and major players at NASA. This is his book of those momentous years in the 1960s, culminating in the moon landing of July 1969.

Schefter has written a stimulating book which describes the lives of dozens of colourful individuals involved in the Space Race, and describes the far from smooth progress of the project behind President Kennedy's promise to place a man on the moon and return him safely to earth before the decade was out.

[Sattik Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

While an enjoyable read, the book does not offer to much unique insight, even for the time of its publication. The "uncensored" look makes only passing references to censored Soviet information and barely offers a behind the scenes look of the astronauts or NASA operations beyond what was already well known. The book also focuses almost entirely on Mercury and Gemini, and glosses over Apollo in passing.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account of the race to the moon between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. and includes lots of information I had no knowledge of growing up in the middle of this race. I found this book interesting and enjoyable and it was never slow or boring.

[David Wygant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forty eight years ago, we landed on the Moon. This was a griping true story about how we got there. It was time to go to Mars a long time ago!

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful explanation of a Saturn V launch. I almost felt like I was there

[✨ m e g a n ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typically not something I would pick up, but I surprisingly enjoyed this! Read it for a paper for school.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not "The Right Stuff" but good stuff.
I enjoyed this view of history.
An enjoyable quick read.

[Laura Hoover · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorites as a kid and I'm looking forward to re-reading it.

[Andrew Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading other reviews, I don't agree with some of the negative opinions that it was error prone & a once-over. There was quite a bit of detail in this book and I very much enjoyed it. I haven't read other books on the subject so I don't have anything to compare it to other than HBO's From the Earth to the Moon & Discovery's When We Left Earth. There was much more detail in this than in those (obviously). You can't go wrong with this one. It did seem the Mercury & Gemini portions of the book were well covered while the Apollo program had a bit less content. Not that it was rushed, but I thought I'd get a bit more (surprised it didn't get to Apollo 1 until about ~80% of the way through the book).

[David Mccarrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that this book did a reasonably good job at covering the major events and the timeline of the space race. It is written in an easy style, so it is both easy to get into and hard to put down. It has a very specific audience however with the author referencing things that I should know like "Jose Jiminez" and I had no idea what he was talking about. Good description and excellent portrayal of the lives of those in the background rather than focusing solely on the astronauts. This will help me get more understanding of the Cold War and its implications for today especially with its focus on technological development.

[Ari · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very nice little history of the Apollo project and the "space race." The author is a journalist who covered NASA during the Apollo project, and who had very good access to the participants. Stronger on characters and narrative than on technical details, but with many interesting facts. The book was written after the fall of the USSR, and benefits a great deal from this. Leaves me wanting more.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one up in northern California and brought it along to read on the plane ride home after a visit with the Miley brothers and other old friends in the Bay area. I wanted an overview of the space race of the sixties and early seventies and that is what this book affords. It isn't particularly well-written or insightful, but it did entertainingly tie together the memories of what had once, in childhood, been very important to me.

[Trevor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolute must-read for anybody with even a hint of interest in the story of the space race and our competition with Russia during the cold war. One of the best books I've ever read and a thorough behind-the-scenes look at NASA, the magnificent 7 astronauts and our long journey to fulfill the vision a President.

[Peter Langston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different from other space race books I've read which stuck to the published, sanitised NASA facts. There is a lot more behind the scenes in Schefter's book and the human weaknesses of the astronauts are more apparent, as it the myth that the Russians were still a viable oppoenent in the race once Apollo came on line. A good read written at a cracking pace.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Be warned, there is very little info here on the Apollo missions, especially on the famous first moon-landing. However, there is a wealth of info on the lead up to Apollo 11. The Gemini program, all the way back to the original rocket engineers poached from post-war Germany.

[Elizabeth Bartholomew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and gossipy history of the space race.

[Drew]

The Race - The Uncensored Story of How America Beat Russia to the Moon by James Schefter (1999)

[Jeevan Basavaraju · Rating 4 out of 5]

- A real story written in an interesting way which Keeps me reading!.
- Gives more insights into space technology growth during cold-war time.