John F. Kennedy and the American Dream: A Look at the Great Space Race

Mitchell K. Ruesink: The book came really fast. I was very happy with the purchase. I would not hesitate to buy from them again. Thanks!

United States on Nov 01, 2023

G: If you want a history lesson starting in the 1940's then this seems to offer a good one. If you want to know more on the actual space missions and how they came to happen, just read the second (and easily less dry) half of the book!

United Kingdom on Aug 29, 2022

Stewart B Bowman: A tremendous work, detailing the involvement of John F. Kennedy in the development, articulations, and budgeting for the Mercury, Gemini, and ultimately Apollo series of launches culminating in the first man landing on the moon, within the decade promised by JFK. Not all roses and Camelot, the book describes many of the back-channel negotiations and fights that were involved. A damned good read.

Canada on Jul 06, 2019

Mitchell A Flagg: This thick brick of a book crashes on the launch pad. It has precious little to do with Apollo 11, the moon landing or the ultimate achievement of Kennedy's bold pledge. It's an endless tick-tock of NASA's early years. I had to spare myself the agony of getting buried in the steamy Florida weeds. It's really only possible to dip in and out of various chapters. One more edit would have helped.

Canada on Jul 05, 2019

Rocket Man: I thoroughly enjoyed Douglas Brinkley's book "American Moonshot." As an aerospace engineer myself, I thought I already knew a lot about Apollo. Turns out, there was much for me to learn!

The book does cover the important ideas of the engineering technologies, but it presents them in a way a non-engineer could understand. I was impressed by the accuracy and attention to technical detail. In addition, I was fascinated to learn how Apollo was not just a feat of engineering, but one of politics. JFK's articulation of a national vision and the behind-the-scenes politics that Brinkley describes truly made possible the moon landing within the decade. I had not appreciated how pivotal that convergence of policy and engineering was to NASA. Reflecting on NASA's new plans to return to the moon and fly to Mars, I think the historical lessons in "American Moonshot" ought to serve as a guide for how to bring out the best of our nation.

I would highly recommend this book to everyone, aerospace engineers and non-engineers alike. Brinkley brings the story of the rockets, the engineers who built them, and the politicians of the Apollo era to life in a unique and engaging way. 10/10...

United States on Apr 27, 2019

Edward B. Furey: The Space Age has also been the Television Age, so, of course, John F. Kennedy met Wernher von Braun late in 1953 in the Pathe’ Studios green room (or whatever they called it then) in New York. Kennedy was freshman senator and von Braun was running the Army’s rocket program. Kennedy told von Braun how his brother had been killed in an operation related to the German V-weapons and the two discussed the new challenge from the Soviets and importance of ballistic missiles. They would remain friends for the rest of Kennedy’s life, although von Braun would beat Kennedy to national television renown with his appearances on the “Disneyland” series about space travel.

And that casual meeting would put the United States on a course to the moon.

Douglas Brinkley’s “American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race” does for Kennedy and the space program what he did with Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt the environment. The progress of rocketry parallels with Kennedy’s career until they would interact so fatefully in 1961.

Brinkley’s thesis is that the moon landing would have taken place much later without Kennedy’s determination to set a...

United States on Apr 13, 2019

G Miller: Though the release of this book is timed to coincide with the forthcoming 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, it is in reality a Presidential biography of John F. Kennedy through the lens of the space race of the 1950s and 60s. It brilliantly places JFK in the time, place and context of an era where American achievement and prestige on the world stage is in question following early Soviet technological triumphs.

This book pulls back the curtain using archival sources - including JFK's hidden tape recording system installed in the White House - to reveal his deliberative processes that ultimately led him to make his bold declaration in 1961 of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth. In this day and age, when elected officials make grandiose promises which remain unfulfilled and thus ultimately ring hollow in our ears virtually before the politician is finished speaking, it is startling to read how JFK's summons to the moon galvanized America's citizens, its government leaders, and, most importantly, its budget appropriators into sustained action in single-minded pursuit of that goal.

Characters of the era vividly come to life as...

United States on Apr 11, 2019