In the Shadow of the Moon

America, Russia, and the Hidden History of the Space Race

By: Amy Cherrix

Narrated by: Josh Horowitz

An exhilarating dive into the secret history of humankind’s race to the moon, from acclaimed author Amy Cherrix. This fascinating and immersive read is perfect for fans of Steve Sheinkin’s Bomb and M. T. Anderson’s Symphony for the City of the Dead.

You’ve heard of the space race, but do you know the whole story?

The most ambitious race humankind has ever undertaken was masterminded in the shadows by two engineers on opposite sides of the Cold War—Wernher von Braun, a former Nazi officer living in the US, and Sergei Korolev, a Russian rocket designer once jailed for crimes against his country—and your textbooks probably never told you.

Von Braun became an American hero, recognized the world over, while Korolev toiled in obscurity. These two brilliant rocketeers never met, but together they shaped the science of spaceflight and redefined modern warfare. From Stalin’s brutal Gulag prisons and Hitler’s concentration camps to Cape Canaveral and beyond, their simultaneous quests pushed science—and human ingenuity—to the breaking point.

From Amy Cherrix comes the extraordinary hidden story of the space race and the bitter rivalry that launched humankind to the moon.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Story & performance--good. Leave out the disinfo.

The story is heavier on the Soviet side of the space race but it's interesting and entirely appropriate for a book like this. However, the repeated mentions of Von Braun's relationship with the Nazi party are unnecessary. The author observes that 1) he was first and foremost interested in building rockets and 2) it's not clear that he held the same beliefs as the Nazis, although he was a member of the Nazi Party and went through the motions of wearing the uniform when he appeared to have no other choice. I felt that once the topic had been addressed once, it was unnecessary to keep bringing it up.

Why did I mention "disinfo" in the subject? Because of at least 2 mentions of the Russians interfering in a material way in recent presidential elections. The evidence doesn't support the level of influence implied by the book. And besides, even if one believes the evidence strongly points to Russian interference, what do presidential elections in 2016 or 2020 have to do with the space race which effectively ended with the 1969 moon landing?