Rocket Men

The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon

By: Craig Nelson

Narrated by: Richard McGonagle

Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

A richly detailed and dramatic account of one of the greatest achievements of humankind.

At 9:32 A.M. on July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 rocket launched in the presence of more than a million spectators who had gathered to witness a truly historic event. It carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins to the last frontier of human imagination: the moon.

Rocket Men is the thrilling story of the moon mission, and it restores the mystery and majesty to an event that may have become too familiar for most people to realize what a stunning achievement it represented in planning, technology, and execution.

Through interviews, 23,000 pages of NASA oral histories, and declassified CIA documents on the space race, Craig Nelson re-creates a vivid and detailed account of the Apollo 11 mission. From the quotidian to the scientific to the magical, readers are taken right into the cockpit with Aldrin and Armstrong and behind the scenes at Mission Control.

Rocket Men is the story of a 20th-century pilgrimage, a voyage into the unknown motivated by politics, faith, science, and wonder that changed the course of history.

©2009 Craig Nelson (P)2009 Penguin

Critic reviews

"Using interviews, NASA oral histories, and declassified CIA material, Nelson has produced a magnificent, very readable account of the steps that led to the success of Apollo 11." ( Booklist)

TRULY OUTSTANDING

There are many books on the space program but this one captures the heart and soul and takes you there!

I get a peculiar reaction to really great outstanding books, I pace back and forth. my enthusiasm, and wonder overflows my inner cup and I'm simply yet ecstatically overwhelmed. needless to say this listen fits into that coveted category.

What an amazingly unique challenge this was for mankind! What an adventure the whole planet held its breath for. All of those enormous probably catastrophic risks laid out on live tv. For many it was before their time, for others its grandeur forgotten, and for everyone, the behind the scenes opera never known till now

So this book is very special because it succeeds in translating all that forgotten glory that was in the public eye and more importantly most of which was kept secret .

It is SO well researched and written ,providing a more than complete history that reads like a thriller. Whether your interested in the space program or not you will find this an amazing experience.

Very Enjoyable Book

I have read other Apollo/NASA books but this one stands on its own. Really enjoyed the discussion of the "space race" and the engineering feats it took to take the US to the Moon first. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in what it took to get to the Moon.

I really love this book...

I really, really love this book. I have read it and reread many parts over and over, boy, this is great. I will refer back to this book many times and reread it again and again. I was project engineer for 22-years on the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motors and wish had I had known this much about the whole program. I knew a lot of this stuff but not all of it in the detail that this book covers. Wow, what a great read.

This is a beautiful, self-contained "course" on the early space program.

So entertainingly and interestingly told, it reminds me of a conductor-friend who said, about a pop singer, "It can't be "good", because it's too "catchy"!
While entirely educational, Rocket Men is so interesting and fun, you don't notice you're learning about the whole era of early space travel!

Great for Space Nuts

If you're a space nut this is the book for you. However, even for a space nut like me I only gave it 4 stars. The main reason is the many annoying inaccuracies - like constantly calling the moon a planet! Even with these problems the book does provide a lot of detail about the race to the moon. Probably too much detail for somebody with just a passing interest.

Quite a reality check!

I was totally obsessed with the space program during the time of Apollo and thought I knew everything about it and NASA. This fascinating book and very good narration reveals the real story of the politics involved during the space race and gives the feeling of being present behind the scenes during the critical parts of the space program and the moon landing. It was a true reality check as most of what I believed to be true was the sanitized version allowed out to the media. I had always thought of Kennedy as the main promoter of the space program. I discovered, to my surprise, that Lyndon Johnson was more knowledgable and the program's primary champion and Kennedy had many reservations about it. Much of the information in this book was revealed by the release of classified and suppressed data that was not available in prior years. That, and the personal anecdotes and conversations of the astronauts and ground crew held me spellbound.

Excellent story from begining to end

What did you love best about Rocket Men?

Deep background on the space program and astronauts

Who was your favorite character and why?

The lesser well know key players in the program

What about Richard McGonagle’s performance did you like?

Easy to listen to.

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

Apollo One fire

Many errors that lessened the story

The story is told in a very exciting format. However, there are many errors that with marginal research should have been caught. Examples of these are: The wingspan of the U2 aircraft, Confusing Navy SEALs, Frog Men and Air Force Pararescue Men. Other glaring errors are that the X-15 had flown 4500 hours. Like I said, a great story that was mired in errors, very disappointing.

Excellent treatment of an incredible accomplishment!

An engaging summary of the history, life and times leading up to the Apollo 11 moon landing and then the aftermath. It would be interesting to get an epilogue from the author regarding the current state of manned space flight plans and accomplishments a dozen or so years after this book was written.

Amazing book, even my wife liked it!!!

I bought this book because of the impending retirement of the space shuttle orbiter program and I thought this would be a great book to get perspective on the beginnings of our space race. Wow, what an amazing read! The 1960s as an era are fascinating in themselves, but the technology, the resources the dedication of these astronauts is amazing. I loved how the book is written with the launching of Apollo 11 (first moon landing) as stories interweaved through the chronological development of the space race from the early 1960s to the Apollo program and beyond. My wife and I listened to this on a road trip and even she liked it (that in itself should give this book 5 stars). I also found all the aspects of Neil Armstrong's inputs and perspective to be fascinating. What a fascinating individual. Specifically, I found the last chapter of the book to be the most fascinating where Armstrong discusses a concept of world changing events like putting a man on the moon occur when there are peaks in a society (high peak of peace, strong economy, political/social will, & competition?) intersect like they did in the 1960s to produce the space race and the achievement of putting a man on the moon. Probably something we will not see again in our lifetimes.