Epic Rivalry: The Inside Story of the Soviet and American Space Race (Paperback)

Epic Rivalry: The Inside Story of the Soviet and American Space Race By Gene Eisman, Von Hardesty, Sergei Krushchev (Foreword by) Cover Image
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Description


The extraordinary saga that gripped the United States and Soviet Union during the Cold War—galvanized by the Sputnik launch in 1957, and culminated by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon in 1969—is chronicled in this uniquely balanced history. With a foreword written by the grandson of Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, Sergei Khrushchev, this lively and compelling account offers behind-the-scenes perspective from both sides.

Written by Smithsonian curator Von Hardesty and researcher Gene Eisman, Epic Rivalry tells the story from the American and Russian points f view and shows how each space-faring nation played a vital role in stimulating the work of the other. Scores of rare and powerful photographs recall the urgency, technical creativity, tense drama, and "parallel universes" of the two nations and their space exploration programs.

About the Author


Von Hardesty is the author of Air Force One; Lindbergh: Flight’s Enigmatic Hero; and Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power,1941–1945, among many other publications. He is a curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Gene Eisman is a veteran journalist and was the researcher for Air Force One.

Praise For…


"A balanced, reader-friendly re-creation of the origins, progress, thrills and perils attending a prestigious race, desperately important at the time, only dimly remembered today." —Kirkus

"An engaging story of visionary scientists focused on space travel, pragmatic politicians eager for triumphs in a propaganda war, and heroic astronauts and cosmonauts risking their lives...compelling narrative of the space race as it unfolded." —Science and Spirit Magazine
Product Details
ISBN: 9781426203213
ISBN-10: 1426203217
Publisher: National Geographic
Publication Date: September 16th, 2008
Pages: 304
Language: English