This is an excellent read and I think most with an interest in anything space will really enjoy it. For me, perhaps it's because I've read SO much about the space program, I found it it to be somewhat pedestrian. I didn't find too much here that I didn't already know something about and didn't think this telling brought that much new to the story.

This is an amazing read! When thinking about the achievements of the Apollo program one first thinks naturally about the first landing on Apollo 11 but Apollo 8 proved that Apollo 11 COULD be done and that is almost an even greater achievement. Kurson brings us along on humankind's greatest adventure and we get to know not only the 3 brave men who first sat atop the largest rocket humans have ever built but those in charge of the planning to make sure they came home safe. As we approach the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 8 and look at the new adventures that NASA, SpaceX and others have laid out before us we can look to our first trip around the moon with the same wonder that was felt in 1968 as our first representatives from earth became our first visitors to our neighbor the moon.

Note: the following will appear in Mountain Times on April 5, 2018, and this post will be updated at that time. Read the full interview at www.mountaintimes.com and click on the Books link.

Breathing life into history is a speciality of Robert Kurson’s.

From telling the tale of the two Americans who discovered a World War II German U-boat off the coast of New Jersey ("Shadow Divers”) to the reads-like-a-thriller true life story of two men risking fame and fortune in a quest to find the wreck of the 17th-century pirate ship, Golden Fleece (“Pirate Hunters”), Kurson never allows his exhaustive research to get in the way of the story, crafting remarkable nonfiction adventures that put readers at the center of the action.

The veteran author’s newest offering does that and more. Not only are readers at the center of the story, but at what feels like the center of the universe as Kurson narrates the journey of man’s first trip to the moon.

Crafted from interviews with those who were there and deep research of the space program itself, “Rocket Men: The daring odyssey of Apollo 8 and the astronauts who made man’s first journey to the moon,” not only fulfills the mission of achieving the full story of Apollo 8, but the stories behind that story — of the wives and children, lives and careers, sacrifices and scares, politics and panic that built America’s bridge to the moon.

Kurson recently agreed to answer a few questions about “Rocket Men” for Mountain Times. His answers have been edited for clarity and length. ...

Most excellent history!

While much has been written, rewritten, and probably over-written about Apollo 11, and, thanks to a movie, everyone knows what happened to Apollo 13, few appreciate the risk and seminal importance of Apollo 8. This is the book we need to correct that.

Naturally, we get detailed biographies of the 3 astronauts, including much appreciated accounts of their later lives and careers. We're given enough insight into their personalities to distinguish them as individuals, with quirks and flaws--not just more heroic, macho test pilots.

Kurson makes an interesting case that it was really Apollo 8 that "took us to the moon". That mission established everything necessary to make the actual landing by 11 possible. 8 was the first mission to leave Earth orbit, to orbit the moon, and to show that the orbital mechanics and the Saturn V system worked perfectly. All of that was untried until NASA and Lovell, Anders, and Borman accepted the huge risks of the hurried mission.

I love this book. Such a great story about our history. Very accessible too.

An excellent book just in time for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8. This was a great fun read that I will definitely recommend to my customers!

John F. Kennedy had promised to put a man on the moon before the end of the 1960’s and after his assassination, Lyndon Johnson supported this unlikely goal. The USA had a tremendous desire to win the space race, however, and against all odds, Apollo 8 was conceived and implemented, some said too quickly. Astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders went on the historic Christmas 1968 mission to orbit the moon, and after a terrible year of riots, carnage in Vietnam, and assassinations of two beloved leaders, some felt that Apollo 8 was the only thing that “saved 1968.” I found this book to be thoroughly researched; the author achieves an excellent balance between technical mission information and biographical background on the astronauts and their families which anyone with an interest in history, not just NASA history, should enjoy reading.

"Rocket Men" by Robert Kurson takes his readers on a space journey with Apollo 8. This book is awesome! It tells a story rich in adventure, bravery, know how, determination and family. While Apollo 13 will be etched in our memory, the story of Apollo 8 captivated the nation and the entire world. It is the great story of America’s race to the moon.

Mr. Kurson takes us into NASA in 1968 when America was trying to compete in the ‘space race’ with the Soviets. The book provides a historical perspective of the Cold War, the war in Vietnam, the murders of Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. America was in a very bad place at this time. It took a miracle from Apollo 8 to give the Country back it’s hope and optimism.

The reader becomes intimately acquainted with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders along with their wives and children. We learn the background of each of these heroes. We learn where they grew up, how they became test pilots, how they met their wives, the birth of their children, how they came to NASA, along with their hopes and dreams. It is not overly technical and written in layman’s terms.

Mr. Kurson interviewed all three astronauts personally along with many NASA employees from the day along with their wives. This book is a compilation of a tremendous amount of research and it shows! The author takes us to the moon and back describing each phase of the journey as told to him by the original pioneers. It commences with the simple idea, four months of training, the countdown, the breaking off of the different rocket boosters all the way to the dark side of the moon and back to earth again. The journey itself baffles the mind. The technology available in 1968 was ‘simple’ compared to today’s standards. The mathematical calculations made by the scientists at NASA were spot on.

If you are fan of all things NASA this book is for you. If you were around during Christmas of 1968 and remember sitting in front of the television, you need to read this book. If you believe in unwavering courage and heroes you need to read this book. I am buying a copy for each of our sons. Phenomenal seems like an understatement. I think I will read it again.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Robert Kurson and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off I want to say which I love reading non fiction , this one was a struggle for me to get through, and I never hardly have that problem with non fiction, there was times I just wanted to put it down and not finish it at all but I kept reading to the very end. Unfortunately this book isn't for me at all , on the upscale it does show you want the astronauts went through as did their families, and how they struggle to get Apollo 8 to the moon , with that said I would like to think Netgalley for giving me a chance at reading it ,in change for my honest opinion.

Kurson's incredible book "Rocket Men" tells one of the greatest stories of adventure in the modern age, a story that captivated not just the nation, but the entire world. It's the story of the race to the moon. If you loved The Right Stuff and Apollo 13, you'll love this book. After the Soviets launched Sputnik, the space race had begun and, although John Kennedy set getting to the moon within ten years as a goal, it almost didn't happen. Growing up, we all knew the names of the three astronauts who actually landed on the moon, but the story of Apollo 8, the rocket that first made it to the moon is a far more incredible story, particularly given how quickly the launch came together without the usual testing.

Kurson takes on a journey with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders, to the moon and back, step by breathtaking step. You can feel the world's emotions as the countdown commences, as each rocket stage breaks off, as the astronauts disappear in the dark side of the moon, and as they re-enter the earth's atmosphere and splash into the Pacific.

It's also set appropriately in historical perspective with the Cold War space race, the war in Vietnam, the riots in the cities, and in 1968 as Dr King and Robert Kennedy were brutally cut down, taking with them so much of the hopes and dreams of the nation. It took a Christmas miracle in the form of Apollo 8 to give the country hope and optimism again.

Kurson also gives us the background history of each of these astronauts, where they grew up, how they met their wives, how they dreamed of being test pilots and eventually chosen to be the second group of astronauts, following the Gemini program.

It's amazing that this journey to the moon could be done with the simple technology of the day and the computers they had then. Yet, the scientist' calculations were spot on.

This book is do well-written and do fascinating that it was a joy to read.

Apollos 11 and 13 are famous as the first moon landing and the successful failure of a moon landing. Less well-known is Apollo 8, which, in the words of the late Neil Armstrong, was “an enormously bold decision.”
The Saturn 5 moon rocket had flown twice, and the second time was a failure. The lunar module was behind schedule. The Soviets were suspected of attempting a manned lunar flight by December.
The American space program was in trouble. A crew had perished in a spacecraft fire on the pad in 1967. And not only the space program, but all of America was convulsing with anti-war fervor, racial unrest, and assassinations in 1968.
A circumlunar flight was dangerous, but it would keep the space program moving forward toward the goal of landing men on the moon before the end of the decade, and maybe even beat the Soviets.
The crew selected for the daring flight had been training for Apollo 9. Frank Borman had little interest in space exploration. He joined NASA to fight the Soviet Union on the new battlefield of space. His teachers had labeled him as bossy and hardheaded. His peers found him arrogant. His own assessment was, he was among the best of the astronaut corps.
His opposite had been his crewmate on Gemini 7. Jim Lovell had a lifelong dream of exploring space and flying rockets. Folks most remembered his warmth and friendliness.
Rookie Bill Anders rounded out the crew. He was dismayed by their assignment to Apollo 8. He’d been training to be a lunar module pilot. With no LM, he’d be switched to command module pilot, and his future chances of walking on the moon disappeared.
The flight of Apollo 8 was a resounding success. And 1968 ended on a bright, shining note.
I’ve been fascinated by space since studying the solar system in second grade. If there’s an astronaut book out there, I’ve read it. The latest is Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First Journey to the Moon, by Robert Kurson, is a great addition.