I had two unfair reactions when reading this book:

1. Stephen Walker is no Tom Wolfe. Okay, this is unfair. It is completely unfair. You should never, ever expect ANYBODY, ever, to be Tom Wolfe. Or the next anybody. All of us are unique individuals, and if you go comparing your literary talents, whatever they are, to anyone else who has a ridiculous level of God-given talent, you will give yourself a headache. I met this one writer at a conference once, who told me that she was the next J.R.R. Tolkien. (Reader: she was not.) I said the polite thing to say when you're from the South, and are confronted by someone who is deeply delusional, which was "Well, then, God bless you." To which she responded, "HE ALREADY HAS." Okay, end of digression. The point is that Stephen Walker is not Tom Wolfe. Granted. But he is plowing over the same fields that Wolfe cultivated in THE RIGHT STUFF, and does it ham-handedly. This is not his fault. But, Good Lord Almighty Joe Friday, I wanted to throw the book into the corner so many times, because whatever story Walker was telling, Wolfe told it better.

2. Yuri Gagarin was a boring human being, and nothing will ever change that. This, again, is not his fault. As a youngster, Gagarin was behind Nazi lines, and was rescued by the advancing Red Army, and that's going to make anyone a fan of Communism. Not his fault. And as a committed Communist, that's going to make Gagarin someone who spouts the party line. If Gagarin was an interesting character with an independent mind, he wouldn't have been the first man in space. So Walker is stuck with Gagarin, who is a dull stick who spouts propaganda and doesn't think much of it.

If you can get past that, to about the last third of the book, then you're all set. The story of the preparation for the launch, and Gagarin's ride, is splendid, and Walker does a masterful job--not least because the Soviets, being God-damned Communists, lied about nearly every single thing. Moreover, they sent Gagarin up anyway, knowing his capsule and rocket were hideously unsafe, because they were committed to doing all of this in secret so they could lie about it if something went very wrong.

I would have liked a bit more--how, exactly, did Gagarin run off the tracks after his flight, and a little more detail about his tragic death--but Walker was as probably as sick of Gagarin at that point as I was. Again, hard to blame him.

A unique book. I'm not aware of another biography dedicated to Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. Very well written. It provides a very good view of his life as well as the broader Soviet manned space program.

VERY well researched, and a good read. The information was packaged into great chapters - just the right length per chapter, and no stones left uncovered over the length of the book.

I highly recommend.

For those interested in the history of spaceflight like me, this book is so good! I got this as an ARC, but have been so busy, that I ran out of time to review it. From the American Project Mercury, to the Russian Projects Vostok and Sputnik, this book explores where few have gone before.

For those interested in the history of manned space flight and the competition between the US and Soviet Union to be the first to send a man into space, “Beyond” is an absolute must. In a class with Tom Wolfe’s “The Right Stuff” and Andrew Chaiken’s “A Man on the Moon,” “Beyond” breaks new ground—at least, it did for me—by examining not only America’s Project Mercury but also the Soviets’ Vostok program, comparing and contrasting the two and introducing us to—and allowing us to get to know— the astronauts, cosmonauts, and American and Soviet project managers vying to put the first man into space. Author Stephen Walker does an excellent job examining the cultures of both programs, the times in which they existed, the conflict(s) between the two superpowers, and the political goals and considerations that motivated Kennedy and Khrushchev. A great choice for anyone interested in the race for space, the cold war, or the early 1960s.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and Mr. Walker for providing me with an ARC in exchange for which for which no promises were made regarding this review.

Beyond by Stephen Walker is a superb read which will keep you engrossed and turning pages at a rapid rate until the very last one.

As Americans, we know we were first to land on the moon. However, most Americans aren't aware that we weren't the first country with a man in space. USSR citizen Yuri Gagarin circled the globe in just 106 minutes, seeing the earth the way no one but a handful of animals had before. The new history Beyond celebrates that flight as part of the 60th anniversary. While the USSR tested secretly, the United States struggled to keep up. At the height of the Cold War, suddenly space supremacy became a huge deal.

Stephen Walker goes through so much of the details that were kept as secrets, even from USSR country men and Gagarin's family, as he describes the history of the program, those who tested and created the rockets that went into space, and what was hidden from the United States as major state secrets. 

Beyond is a fabulous book and I hope to see more from Walker in the future.

My thanks to NetGalley and to Harper for an advanced copy of this book.

In Beyond The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space, Stephen Walker takes us back to the middle of the Cold War where the Soviet Union and the United States fought for every opportunity to be thought of as superior, be it on the ground, in the press, in the hearts and in the sky.

The Soviets took the lead with Sputnik, but soon both nations were shooting a Noah's ark of animals, dogs, chimpanzees, mice, hoping that with each launch the knowledge gained would aid in being the first nation to escape the Earth's gravity. My favorite parts were about the men of both nations chosen watching animals and dummies being fired into the sky, wishing it were themselves, and knowing that firing another chimp meant the opposition could get ahead and win. Mr. Walker has a great gift of you are there for this moments from his extensive research and interviewing everyone he could, with clear explanations of the science and the politics. The people though really are given their time on the stage a very interesting well written history about a time where science and doing things had a way of uniting people, and how reaching your dream of soaring high might not be worth it in the end.

At last, a comprehensive, well written, extensively researched, and exciting account of the early days of the Space Race. Though other books (The Right Stuff for example) have re-counted the exploits of the first astronauts, Beyond gives the reader the full story. The scientists, the dreamers, the engineers, the politicians, and the astronauts/cosmonauts that strove, and competed, and suffered and achieved the first steps toward space exploration. Author Stephen Walker lays out the most complete story to date, especially using relatively newly disclosed Russian information. As a reader, though I knew about the most prominent names and dates, I found myself riveted by the accomplishments of the men of the Mercury Seven and the Vanguard Six programs. I was staggered by the brash, brazen, courageous, insane nature of the race to be the first to send a man into space. Each moment, when so much depended upon little tested (or untested) technology, seemingly at times held together by spit and imagination, amazing things were achieved. From the first steps by dogs, and chimpanzees, and mice into the stratosphere, until Yuri Gagarin flew into space and returned safely, and beyond, Walker manages to keep the reader engaged, nervous, and even uncertain.