Apollo 8
The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon
Ratings9
Average rating4.6
Accurate Subtitle. Kluger does an excellent job with writing the narrative of this distinctively NON-fiction story with the skill of a solid thriller author. While Apollo 11 would eventually overpower 8, and one of 8's crewmen would become far more famous for Apollo 13, neither of those missions happens without someone being the first to actually get to lunar orbit and make sure their spacecraft can survive the trip. And Kluger does an excellent job of revealing all of the people invovled and putting them in the proper context while showing both the very real perils and how the various people handled those perils. If you're interested in man leaving the planet at all, this is a must read book.
This book has a brief history of the Apollo program leading up to Apollo 8, then, of course, the focus is wholly on the first lunar mission. It's a good balance between technical and personal standpoints, such as the astronauts' thoughts as well as their families'. Very enjoyable reading!
Excellent account of the first manned mission to leave earth orbit to orbit the moon.
I listened to the audiobook - and highly recommend it. At the end of the book there is an interview between the author and Frank Borman that I highly recommend: the interview humanizes Borman considerably and puts some of the book's characterizations of Borman into a better context.