One Giant Leap

The Untold Story of How We Flew to the Moon

By: Charles Fishman

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

The New York Times best-selling, "meticulously researched and absorbingly written" (The Washington Post) story of the trailblazers and the ordinary Americans on the front lines of the epic Apollo 11 moon mission.

President John F. Kennedy astonished the world on May 25, 1961, when he announced to Congress that the United States should land a man on the Moon by 1970. No group was more surprised than the scientists and engineers at NASA, who suddenly had less than a decade to invent space travel.

When Kennedy announced that goal, no one knew how to navigate to the Moon. No one knew how to build a rocket big enough to reach the Moon, or how to build a computer small enough (and powerful enough) to fly a spaceship there. No one knew what the surface of the Moon was like, or what astronauts could eat as they flew there. On the day of Kennedy’s historic speech, America had a total of 15 minutes of spaceflight experience - with just five of those minutes outside the atmosphere. Russian dogs had more time in space than US astronauts. Over the next decade, more than 400,000 scientists, engineers, and factory workers would send 24 astronauts to the Moon. Each hour of space flight would require one million hours of work back on Earth to get America to the Moon on July 20, 1969.

"A veteran space reporter with a vibrant touch - nearly every sentence has a fact, an insight, a colorful quote or part of a piquant anecdote" (The Wall Street Journal), and in One Giant Leap, Fishman has written the sweeping, definitive behind-the-scenes account of the furious race to complete one of mankind’s greatest achievements. It’s a story filled with surprises - from the item the astronauts almost forgot to take with them (the American flag), to the extraordinary impact Apollo would have back on Earth, and on the way we live today. From the research labs of MIT, where the eccentric and legendary pioneer Charles Draper created the tools to fly the Apollo spaceships, to the factories where dozens of women sewed spacesuits, parachutes, and even computer hardware by hand, Fishman captures the exceptional feats of these ordinary Americans. "It’s been 50 years since Neil Armstrong took that one small step. Fishman explains in dazzling form just how unbelievable it actually was" (Newsweek).

©2019 Charles Fishman (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

The Apollo Program in Historical Context

One Giant Leap explains the hows and whys of the Apollo program, and the whys are what makes the story coherent and compelling. Fishman starts with the context of what the Soviets were accomplishing in the late 1950s, and how that affected attitudes in the US. Next we get President Kennedy's evolving thoughts on whether the US should even try to compete with the Soviets, eventually deciding that "If we can beat the Soviets to the moon, we should," and finally the well-known declaration about landing a man on the moon before the decade is out.

Next comes the hard part, figuring out how to get to the moon, and developing the technology to get there. Again, Fishman puts the situation in context, noting the state of technology in the late fifties & early sixties. Even integrated circuits were new. Space suits, rockets, the lunar lander, and the 1 cubic foot computer were all fascinating chapters in the book. I loved hearing all these details of the decade-long program where so many pieces had to come together to get the success of Apollo 11.

This is not a biography of astronauts, but rather a biography of the Apollo mission, with historical context to make every point clear and comprehensible. The narration was excellent--clear and enjoyable to listen to. I loved this book and hope you will too.

One Giant Mishmash

In the 1960s we had rockets that could put men in orbit and take us to the moon. Now we don't. In the 1960s publishers had editors and fact checkers. If this book is any indication, now we don't.

The bottom line is that this book is badly organized and much too long. The author is very inefficient in his writing, which is made worse by extreme repetition. There are also some glaring factual errors. "Frank Wright" was not one of the Wright Brothers (how could this error possibly happen in a book on aerospace?). Ed White was not a Mercury astronaut (again, a fundamental error).

My estimate is that this book could have covered the same material much more cogently and elegantly in 10 hours instead of 15 (which would reduce the hardcover page count from 480 to 320). Apparently, the author and publisher didn't think a good editing was worth the trouble.

Nevertheless, the book is worth reading for Apollo junkies. The material about the Apollo Guidance Computer is fascinating. The information regarding Kennedy's private misgivings about the program is new (at least to me) and interesting. The final chapter summing up the meaning of Apollo has a lot of interesting parts, but, again, is much longer than it needs to be. I think that the author is probably right that Apollo ushered in the age of computer technology more than an age of exploration.

If you already know a lot about Apollo and have the time and the patience, you might want to listen or read this. If you are looking for a good general retrospective on the Apollo program or Apollo 11, there are many better choices, including A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin, Failure Is Not an Option, by Flight Director Gene Kranz, or Carrying the Fire, by Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot Michael Collins.

The narration is pretty good, thank goodness.

This book explains why this was the last leap

Charles Fishman gives an entertaining and instructive account of the mad race to the moon. He details the harrowing mishaps and courageous acts of the astronauts. Much of the scientific advances are set in the context of the sixties. The Vietnam war was raging and the anti-war movement was in full swing. Even though Kennedy put the moon race expenses as second to the amount Americans spent on tobacco products. Having lived through this time I was reminded of how exciting it was.

Worth a Listen

I’m kind of a space and history geek, so I enjoyed this book. But even I thought it could have used some editing. Those who don’t have a burning interest in the subject will likely find it tedious.

Required Reading for Space Race fans

I have read nearly every book ever written about the Project Apollo, the space race, and the early days of the US space program. There are certain books that are required reading for these topics. Books Such as "Apollo" by Cox & Murray, and "A Man in the Moon" by Andrew Chaikin. In my opinion "One Giant Leap" joins these titles on the top shelf. Every year or so another new book re-hashes the same history and attempts to put some new spin on things. "One Giant Leap" is not one of those books. The details about the development and ultimate cultural significance of the Apollo guidance computer, including the profound impact on the manufacture of integrated circuits - this is one example of the appeal of the book. The discussion of the phrase "If we can put a man on the moon..." was equally fascinating. I can't wait to read (hear) it again.

Loved It

Loved this book! I learned so many interesting things about the race for the moon

Best look at one giant leap

I am a 70 year old retired engineer "One Giant Leap" was in my power alley. My father worked at Redstone in the 50s. I have been a space nerd for 60 years. This is the best look at a remarkable event and a remarkable time in America. OGL is full of technical details, colorful people and the innovative engineering that made the moon landing positive.

But OGL is more than an engineering look at the space race. The inside story on American politics and all that was happening in our country in the 60s is terrific. For me the best of this book are the inspirational and aspirational aspects of the effort undertaken by America and how those aspects of the journey impact America and the world today.

The book is long and it doed jump around in time and space from beginning to end. The author did return to the same topics and issues repeatedly. But the topics are deep, they are important and they certainly extend beyond the space race. The book speaks directly to who we are, to what we can do and to the greatness that is possible in America and the world.

For me OGL was an inspiring sermon on the power of liberty and on the things possible and inevitable when mankind and especially Americans focus on things bigger than themselves. OGL is a cando book. please read it.

Highly recommended

This book is inspirational and beautifully written. And this narrator, Fred Sanders, has the perfect voice and intonation to do the story justice. I would listen to any book that Sanders narrates.

Fascinating story

I was in my twenties when the events of this story of sending a man to moon happened - but I knew only a very small bit of the story - this book should be listened to or read by all of us. It is a tribute to so much intelligence, courage and practicality that it is simply astounding and inspiring.

Worth it if you’re into it, but not THAT into it

To start, though well done, the narration is incredibly slow. Making an already filler heavy book slower than necessary. Second, very repetitive, get like the publisher gave them a word count, akin to a school essay without enough content. Finally, the story told was great, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about the complexities/logistics of the Apollo missions. I felt it was really beating a dead horse when it comes to the politics of it though. In my opinion, anyone who reads a book this sense about Apollo would more than likely know that motive. Even if they didn’t, it was repeated so much I think I’d still be bored of it. Additionally, the fact checking is iffy, so I wouldn’t take anything said as gospel.
Worth a read if you’re a space enthusiast, I personally found it to be quite moving.