The Epic Journey of Apollo 8: How Three Astronauts Changed History with Mankind's First Trip to the Moon

Bondi_Dan: This is a fabulous book.

Really good story telling of a great adventure.

United Kingdom on Jun 04, 2023

Kirk Davis: We all know the story of Apollo 11 and Apollo 13…but the story of Apollo 8 has been largely hidden. And without Apollo 8 taking the bold step to orbit the moon ahead of the originally planned schedule, these following missions would not have even happened.

Thanks to Robert Kurson for his insightful book bringing to life, not only the mission, but the people behind it. And not just the luminaries, but also, and perhaps most importantly, the brave wives of the three brave astronauts.

United States on May 30, 2023

jeramy underwood: A very readable account of an exciting spaceflight unfairly overshadowed by later lunar landing missions. Excellent insight into the astronaughts themselves revealing the skill and talent of astronaught Bill Anders who is otherwise a footnote in most Apollo literature.

United Kingdom on Mar 11, 2022

Dezzy: I've read lots of astronaut (auto)biographies but this is the only one I've read that delves into the careers of the astronauts plus their mission. Apollo 8 is touched upon in other books, but this has much more detail. Whilst much has been written about Lovell elsewhere, I really enjoyed learning more about Borman and Anders. The combination of astronaut lives, mission history and NASA strategy is unique in one book.

Australia on Jan 24, 2022

Fireside Cat: Having first read about Apollo 11 and then Apollo 13, I began to look for books about the earlier Apollo missions. 'Rocket Men' spent a long time on my reading list before I finally bought and read it. But, boy, did I enjoy it!

The book, in unpretentious and down-to-earth language, manages to take an account of real science, invention and risk-taking and turn it into a thrilling page-turner. My knowledge and insight into the US space programme of the 1960s is much the richer and more complete as a result. At the same time, the book tells the personal stories of three astronauts, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, in a warm and engaging manner.

If there is anything to criticise, it is the somewhat incongruous insertion of a chapter summarising the series of mainly political and social events in 1968 that made this a bleak year for Americans. The intention is to put the wonder of the Apollo 8 mission - once it could be deemed to have been successful - into the context of what had otherwise apparently been a dispiriting year for Americans. I think the book would have conveyed the extraordinary achievement of the mission just as well without this section. But this...

Germany on Jan 01, 2022

C. Robertson: I have some good things to say about this book. I think it is valuable but first, I guess I am the only person who is not always impressed with the writing style here. It must be me then. But I found that it is a bit of a dramatic, it reads like a novel at times. Given that, I skimmed quickly through all the parts that were inventions of people's thoughts and conversations, dramatizations, in my opinion by the author. Its probably just me, but I am uncomfortable with dramatizing the personal side of of historical events. I would rather that actual quotes are used than attempts to artistically recreate what a person was thinking to themself 50 years ago . It brings an element of fiction to real events. For me, that seems a bit off.

This book puts some events and personal interactions in a rather dramatic light events and I have two minds about that. From our present vantage point we know how all the social events related to the Soviets played out in the end, the Cuban missile crisis, the arms race. So, books and articles on this subject often tend to be fairly dry and objective and not highly emotional because now we know that the Russians did not actually nuke us and that...

United States on Jan 22, 2020

AM: I don’t read very many nonfiction books and I haven’t listened to many audiobooks, but I’m sure that this one will remain one of my favorites in both categories. Before I listened to this book, when I thought of space missions and the moon, I thought of the moon landing and Apollo 11 - the planting of the American flag, Neil Armstrong’s comment “....one giant step for mankind.” While I remember Apollo 8, I had no idea of it’s importance in laying the groundwork for future missions. While I always thought that astronauts as a group were brave, I never really thought about their individual stories, their personalities, the affect on their families, especially their spouses, the intense training or what went into preparing for their mission. Even though I knew the efforts of NASA to prepare, plan, build, test and manage from mission control had to be enormous, I never gave it a lot of thought. I didn’t think a lot about the historical context of these space missions. All of that changed in such an impactful way for me while listening to this absolutely amazing account.

I was captivated by the intimate look that I got of the crew - Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and...

United States on Dec 06, 2019

Peter: Even thou I not finished this book, I thought I could not wait to review what I read so far.
It is a joy to turn theses pages about Apollo 8 and men behind it. I have learned so much background to this historic space mission that I didn't know, especially about the astronauts who were tasked with getting to the Moon.
Mr Kurson has brought the story of Apollo 8 alive with focus on the human element. His insight into the fears of such a daring flight makes the book worthy of praise from thoses interested in manned spaceflight.
In conclusion this is a book with humans at the centre, and just the technicalities of getting to our nearest cosmic neighbour.
Apollo 8 does not get the credit it deserves. This tone goes a long way in readdressing that 50 years later.
I truly look forward to reading to the very last page of "Rocket Men".

United Kingdom on Jul 30, 2018