National Air and Space Museum curator Von Hardesty and journalist Gene Eisman offer a history of both sides of the Space Race in Epic Rivalry: The Inside Story of the Soviet and American Space Race. The book features a foreword by Dr. Sergei Khrushchev, a rocket engineer himself and son of the man at the helm of the Soviet Union at the start of the race. Though a quick, light read, Epic Rivalry packs in a lot information, including accounts of rocket development and launches, lunar probes and orbiters, brief profiles of astro- and cosmonauts, and the use of surveillance by both governments. Informative sidebars address rocket design, orbital mechanics, and the pros and cons of Soviet and American approaches to the problems of getting humans into space.

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