First Man

The Life of Neil A. Armstrong

By: James R. Hansen

Narrated by: Boyd Gaines

Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

On July 20, 1969, the world stood still to watch 38-year-old American astronaut Neil A. Armstrong become the first person ever to step on the surface of another heavenly body. Perhaps no words in human history became better known than those few he uttered at that historic moment.

Upon his return to Earth, Armstrong was honored and celebrated for his monumental achievement. He was also, as James R. Hansen reveals in this fascinating and important authorized biography, misunderstood. Armstrong's accomplishments as an engineer, a test pilot, and an astronaut have long been a matter of record, but Hansen's unprecedented access to private documents and unpublished sources and his interviews with more than 125 subjects (including more than 50 hours with Armstrong himself) yield this first in-depth analysis of an elusive American celebrity still renowned the world over.

In a penetrating exploration of American hero worship, Hansen addresses the complex legacy of the First Man, as an astronaut and as an individual. In First Man, the personal, technological, epic, and iconic blend to form the portrait of a great but reluctant hero who will forever be known as history's most famous space traveler.

©2005 James R. Hansen (P)2005 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Rather than overwhelming, this accumulation of details gives flesh-and-blood reality to a man who is more icon than human. With the recent renewal of interest in manned space travel, this book is a must for astronaut buffs and history readers alike." (Publishers Weekly)

First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong

A must read. Learn about the most famous person alive, Neil Armstrong the first man to walk on the Moon. A very enjoyable book. If you are a space fan, this book will top your reading list for many years to come.

Intelligent use of the aural media.

What made the experience of listening to First Man the most enjoyable?

The use of actual audio from the period. Just enough to add to the story, but not so much that took from the book.

Neil Armstrong Accomplishments

If you are fan of the early NASA space program you are likely to enjoy this book. This was an excellent book about Neil Armstrong's background and accomplishments, starting from his childhood. Perhaps due to his quiet nature, there is not much about the Neil Armstrong the person. The book focuses more on the things he did. From his early love of flying, the Gemini space program and of course, the Apollo space program. There are many interesting facts and escriptions of the space flights that were new to me. Especially about the training for Apollo 13 and the details of their flight and his relationships with his Apollo 13 crew mates. It was sad to see that NASA did a poor job of rewarding the astronauts for their heroic efforts so it was good to know that Armstrong is now living a very happy civilian life. I'm not sure in today's media centric society if someone like Armstrong would be picked today - but after reading this book it was clear he was the right man to accomplish the task.

good book about a man I admire

I had to read this book about Neil Armstrong since I admire him so much and I also wanted to read it since it's the official authorized biography. several years ago I just stopped reading books and I remember this book was one of the last three that I read. these days I'm more entertained by audiobooks visual media and streaming content. Audible has been a good source streaming content thank you

A well written account of a riveting story

Its like being there again.
Very interesting and well written.
I had no trouble staying glued to the story.

Story is kept on point

This is the kind of book that could get bogged down in details and jargon - gladly, it does not. The story remains interesting and at the right level: peppered with an occasional audio track from actual space events as well as insights that lead us to understand Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins as men with ability, ambition and families.

Not great, but pretty good

The book reflects Armstrong's personality: interesting but tends to bog down in detail a little every now and then. The only thing I really didn't like was the narrator changing his voice to reflect the different characters, including women. Wasn't necessary & is a distraction.

Overall, it's a pretty good book.

Adds mission audio! ending felt abrupt.

Loved that they integrated the audio from mission control. I love the story all the way up until the last couple of chapters. It seemed to end abruptly after it transitioned to his personal life. I would have preferred to the author have add another chapter, or just stopped in how his flight impacted his teaching experience and perhaps though his NASA advisory roles later in his career.

Well done

Enjoyed it immensely. The story moves quickly. There is enough background material to understand the particulars of the mission. Some criticism of Armstrong. Good use of other biographies. And excellent use of audio archives. Kennedy's speech at Rice University, actual audio from the Apollo 11, etc.

Great! Especially for the next generation

What made the experience of listening to First Man the most enjoyable?

There are layered in "real" play backs when they were in certain parts of their
mission.

What did you like best about this story?

Armstrong; Aldrin, and Collins are truly American heroes. Too much to list
about was the best about the entire story of what they accomplished.

Have you listened to any of Boyd Gaines’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Well written. Excellent format as well.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When they lesft for the moon: takeoff

Any additional comments?

Listen to it. You'll be glad you did! Why they are all from Ohio is interesting.