Apollo 11

The Inside Story

By: David Whitehouse

Narrated by: Simon Mattacks

Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Informed by extensive interviews with astronauts such as Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Gene Cernan, David Scott, John Young, Alan Shepard, Charlie Duke, Al Bean, Gordon Cooper, Al Worden, Walt Cunningham, Tom Stafford, Dick Gordon, John Glenn, Pete Conrad, Edgar Mitchel, James Irwin, Stu Roosa, Ron Evans, Deke Slayton, Wally Schirra, as well as key politicians and NASA personnel

Fifty years ago in July 1969, Apollo 11 became the first manned mission to land on the moon, and Neil Armstrong the first man to step onto its surface. President Nixon called it the greatest week since creation.

In the most authoritative book ever written about Apollo, David Whitehouse reveals the true drama behind the mission, telling the story in the words of those who took part - based around exclusive interviews with the key players.

This enthralling book takes us from the early rocket pioneers to the shock America received from the Soviets' launch of the first satellite, Sputnik; from the race to put the first person into space, through President Kennedy's enthusiasm and later doubts, to the astronauts' intense competition to leave the first footprint.

Here is the story as told by the crew of Apollo 11 and the many other astronauts who paved the way or went to the moon themselves after Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. Astronauts, engineers, politicians, NASA officials, Soviet rivals - all tell their own story of a great moment of human achievement.

The full list of interviewees includes NASA employees such as James Fletcher, Roco Petrone, Brainerd Homes, Bob Gilruth, George Mueller, James Webb, John Houbolt, Robert Seamans, Max Faget, Director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory William Pickering, and Sergei Khrushchev, son of Soviet Premier.

©2019 by David Whitehouse. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Space Race Revivalism

I recently saw the 2019 documentary 'Apollo 11' and have been utterly inspired by the Apollo stories. As a Gen X-er, my domain had always been the Space Shuttle era. It was my parents that got all misty-eyed when speaking of the lunar landing. And, yes, like everyone else in the world, I've seen the black and white grainy footage of Neil Armstrong's first step. But the documentary brought July of 1969 into 4K and breathed high-resolution life into that moment in time. I watched the lunar landing in the full and vivid colors of today. I wanted more.

So, when I saw a book with the same title, I pounced. I wasn't disappointed. The author compliments my growing fascination with the Apollo missions. The opening of the book details humanity's ancient first thoughts about the moon and moves into the origins of rocketry, mainly from 19th Century German and Russian elites. You see how World War 2 brought rockets onto the human stage with devastating consequences. The full gravity and scope of Apollo 11 struck me with a much deeper sense of amazement. How many centuries, how many brilliant minds, how many cultures and languages were carried on the backs of three astronauts when they landed on the moon? For me, hearing about all those smaller streams of human thought and effort that came down from our past, converging in the 20th Century, and then feeding into the extraordinary momentum of Apollo 11 was a gift to read about.

Secondly, the book toggles back and forth between the American and Soviet space programs as they play out on the world stage in chronological order. The book left me admiring more the Soviet cosmonauts and scientists who had the same adventurous pulse but were undermined by a tragically inept government. That said, when you read this book, you'll get a powerful appreciation of the American space program. They didn't just "beat" the Soviet Union, they did it right. They were professionals about it. They were open about it. They hired armies of brilliant men and women to support the entire operation. You'll realize how much of a one-sided affair the space race was in the end. You'll come to appreciate the American astronauts and flight controllers much more than you already do. If you get a chance, look up Eugene Kranz's "tough and competent" speech after the Gemini disaster. It really hit me hard...

The book does a great job of including its history through the conversations of those involved. The downside is that while the book succeeds at providing some new perspective, it gets dry here and here. At a few points, the narration slides into an uninspiring catalog of events and details. Other than that, the book was a fantastic read. I'm glad I read it!

With a new space race on the horizon in the 21st Century, I anticipate everyone will want to brush up on their knowledge of the Apollo missions. There really seems to be a revival in American interest what NASA achieved back then and what accomplishments are just around the corner. I think this book is part of fresh revival. in our greatest pioneering spirit

Narrator mispronunciations are distracting

The story is thorough and interesting, delving deeply into some of the background stories that are not well known. Having worked in the aerospace arena for 51 years, I was annoyed by the substantial and repetitive mispronunciation of names and other words. I could only conclude that the text was not reviewed before publication. Some of the incorrect renditions included: Max Faget, Schirra, Eisele, Baikonur, aluminum, schedule, and the name of the Saturn 5 second stage (S-IVB). It is also stated incorrectly at one point that the first stage of the Saturn V burned liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.

Not what it was cracked up to be

I have read or listened to many books about various aspects of space exploration. I had thought, based on the title, that this book would be an in-depth focus on Apollo 11, and I bought the Audible version just a number of days after the book’s publication-- before any reviews were available.

Apollo 11 was not discussed until about ¾ of the way through the book. Much of the preceding chapters discussed the US/Soviet space race and also gave details about the earlier Apollo missions. After the Apollo 11 discussion, there were chapters discussing the later Apollo missions. I understand that some background is needed in order to better understand Apollo 11 itself, but for someone like me who has read several background books, I felt a bit “cheated” that this book didn’t deliver Apollo 11 in any more than a relatively cursory way.

Since the book was just released on June 11, 2019, I can’t help but wonder if it was named “Apollo 11” in hopes of cashing in on the increased interest in Apollo 11 with its 50th Anniversary happening in July.

The Publisher’s Summary calls this book “The most authoritative book on Apollo ever written.” I do not agree and feel that “A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts,” by Andrew Chaikin was much more in-depth and the information was better presented.

I understand that the narrator is English, likely because the author is English. But it would have been great if he had learned to pronounce all the names of the astronauts. It was grating and distracting for him to mispronounce the names that we grew up hearing in the U.S. Actually, since the target audience is probably Americans, an American narrator would have been a more natural choice.

Not Much Apollo 11

A vast majority of this book covers Mercury, Gemini, and the other Apollo missions. Very disappointed in a book calling itself the inside story but didn’t really go in depth of Apollo 11. This book should be renamed “A brief history of NASA from Mercury through Apollo”

Not bad if you already know the story.

This is a fine overview of the early days of space flight up to the end of the Apollo missions, but unless you already know a lot of the details this book seems to gloss over quite a bit, while being painstakingly detailed in other areas. Some people have complained that the book was read by an English performer, but given that the author is also English I don't see this as an issue. My main complaint is, probably, with the editing. There are practically no pauses between sections of the book, so it is difficult to tell sometimes when the perspective shifts say from the US to Russia, but this was a fairly minor annoyance and did not significantly detract from my enjoyment of the story. Overall I enjoyed Apollo 11, but I'd encourage newcomers to this bit of history to listen to a more comprehensive account or two before picking this one up.

Fell short

I was hoping for a more in-depth story. More of a behind-the-scenes story of Apollo 11. This was more of an overall Apollo Missions story, with entirely too much of the Russian space race story. Disappointed.

Detailed

For me, it was too much detail, especially about what the Russians were doing. I found myself drifting to other thoughts while listening. Normally I love to listen to a British accent. But, Simon Mattacks narration was distracting to what is an American story.

narrator difficulties

The frequent mispronunciation of names of both the astronauts and companies was distracting. With the title being Apollo 11 it was surprising how little of the book was about Apollo 11.

A Mistitled but Interesting Book

While I've read a dozen or so books on the American space program up to the conclusion of Apollo 17, I've not heard much on the Soviet program of the 1960s. This book, though entitled "Apollo 11," provides that information. In fact, there is so much about the Space Race compared to the narrative about Apollo 11 in this book that is why I believe it to be mistitled.

Concerning the narration, Mr. Mattacks' voice is pleasant to listen to. However, there are mispronunciations or misreadings that were a distracting to me. Examples include the mispronunciations of Max Faget's, George Mueller's, Wally Schirra's, and Don Eisele's last names. One misreading concerns the S-IV-B (pronounced S 4 B) that was read ess eye vee bee.

Concerning content, the author tells the story of the Space Race well. This, Apollo 11 is set in its context. The brief description of Armstrong's, Aldrin's, and Collins' lives after their return to earth is simple, yet insightful.
Overall, a very good book.

Interesting Reader Choice

It is a good overview on the race to the moon. Especially enjoyed hearing some of the USSR perspective.

The reader is good but is British. This threw off some of the cadence and emphasis and thereby some of the impact when quoting American Astronauts.

Uninteresting and dull

This book reads like a cross between a collection of Wikipedia pages and briefing notes for a reporter. I would have thought that it would actually be quite difficult to write a book on this subject and make it quite as dull as this. The author has obviously retained his collection of NASA press releases, with their stream of statistics and acronyms, since the text is littered with pointless facts; the kind of facts that a teenager might find interesting and expect others to find interesting. Indeed, the book has all the passion, insight and excitement of a school textbook. I do not expect a book on this subject to reveal startling new stories, but the plain narrative actually just made me wonder what was the point of this book. One other matter: the book title refers to Apollo 11, so it might be reasonable to expect the book to focus largely on this mission. Not so, we are treated to long sections on early Russian rocket pioneers, and then after the main mission is handled in a simplistic manner, then treated to sections on Apollo 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. Absolutely nothing to do with Apollo 11. It would appear that this book is titled Apollo 11 simply to cash in on the 50th anniversary. I have not read a less interesting, less informative book on Apollo 11

Apollo 11

A fascinating insight into the history of the American and Russian space race . It is hard to believe that much of the era is almost a forgotten era and that so few of the moon walkers are still alive

Insightful and full of amazing facts

As someone involved in big government programmes I found this book fascinating. The determination to make something happen coupled with lots of risk taking. Excellent stuff.

A little short

A good encounter of the program, narrated excellently. A little brief but good all the same. Not much new info here if you’re a space nerd but a great listen

First Book Not Disappointed

i really enjoyed this book, it was my first audio book which I listened to on a long motorway drive. Well written, extremely interesting and lots of information that I didn’t know

Great detail

A great wide knowledge of the space program, a fantastic in sight to the race to the moon.

Inspiring story, detail is astounding...

it's a wonder we ever got to and put a human on that rock 385k miles away... a testament to this species desire and will to overcome the odds however stacked against and seemingly impossible ...

it's ok

struggled to finish.
lost momentum.
I thought the interviews were a little weak.
but over all not a bad read.

Outstanding!

Fabulous detail and behind the scenes information.

only comment to make is the title is somewhat misleading as Apollo 11 is in fact a minor part of the whole story. A more accurate title might have been space race.

really enjoyed the parallels made to the Soviet efforts of the same time.