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    American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race
    American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race
    American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race
    Audiobook17 hours

    American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race

    Written by Douglas Brinkley

    Narrated by Stephen Graybill

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    2020 Audie Awards® WINNER - History/Biography

    As the fiftieth anniversary of the first lunar landing approaches, the award winning historian and perennial New York Times bestselling author takes a fresh look at the space program, President John F. Kennedy’s inspiring challenge, and America’s race to the moon.

    “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.”—President John F. Kennedy

    On May 25, 1961, JFK made an astonishing announcement: his goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. In this engrossing, fast-paced epic, Douglas Brinkley returns to the 1960s to recreate one of the most exciting and ambitious achievements in the history of humankind. American Moonshot brings together the extraordinary political, cultural, and scientific factors that fueled the birth and development of NASA and the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects, which shot the United States to victory in the space race against the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

    Drawing on new primary source material and major interviews with many of the surviving figures who were key to America’s success, Brinkley brings this fascinating history to life as never before. American Moonshot is a portrait of the brilliant men and women who made this giant leap possible, the technology that enabled us to propel men beyond earth’s orbit to the moon and return them safely, and the geopolitical tensions that spurred Kennedy to commit himself fully to this audacious dream. Brinkley’s ensemble cast of New Frontier characters include rocketeer Wernher von Braun, astronaut John Glenn and space booster Lyndon Johnson.

    A vivid and enthralling chronicle of one of the most thrilling, hopeful, and turbulent eras in the nation’s history, American Moonshot is an homage to scientific ingenuity, human curiosity, and the boundless American spirit.

    Editor's Note

    One giant leap…

    What exactly did it take to put a man on the moon? Find out in this fascinating story of all the men and women who made Neil Armstrong’s “one small step” possible, and the technology that not only launched him into orbit, but also returned him safely back to Earth.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateApr 2, 2019
    ISBN9780062865878
    Author

    Douglas Brinkley

    Douglas Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University, presidential historian for the New-York Historical Society, trustee of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. The Chicago Tribune dubbed him “America’s New Past Master.” He is the recipient of such distinguished environmental leadership prizes as the Frances K. Hutchison Medal (Garden Club of America), the Robin W. Winks Award for Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks (National Parks Conservation Association), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Lifetime Heritage Award. His book The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast received the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. He was awarded a Grammy for Presidential Suite and is the recipient of seven honorary doctorates in American studies. His two-volume, annotated Nixon Tapes won the Arthur S. Link–Warren F. Kuehl Prize. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and three children.

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    Reviews for American Moonshot

    4.5/5

    86 ratings7 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Douglas Brinkley is a known Kennedy scholar, and this book would much better be renamed Kennedy and the Moonshot. Most of the book revolves around him and his amazing leadership in bringing the Apollo mission to fruition. I did not know until reading this book that he was such a driving force in inspiring America to make this mission and then egging on Congress to legislate for the enormous funding needed. However beyond Kennedy and a few other national figures, and the astronauts that met with Kennedy, Brinkley has very little to say. There is no discussion technical matters on the NASA engineering level. The guys in the short sleeve white shirts and hornrimmed glasses that are the heroes of the Apollo 13 movie do not merit a mention in this book. Moreover, once Kennedy dies, the author has nothing left to say. From that moment all the way to a man walking on the moon is covered in one chapter. The worldwide joy that occurred as Nei Armstrong made that first step is covered glancingly. If you were looking for a high-level understanding of the political process that resulted in the moonshot, this is your book.
    • 5/5
      I was one of those kids that grew up in the 1960's. I was nine years old when watched Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins made their historic journey to the moon. I have read a lot of books, but none previously written Douglas Brinkley, until now. That in itself was a wake up call for me, a student of history. This guy really knows how to tell a story.

      Realizing that this year (2019) is the 50th anniversary of America's landing on the moon, you would have to expect that many authors would feel compelled to cash in on the story told many times before. However, Brinkley focus is based on the subtitle of the book: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race. This is the main thesis of the book. He really focuses on John Kennedy and his passion of inspiring America to get behind the cause. He also completes the story by defining what the space race meant to LBJ, and why he was able to keep America focused after Kennedy's life was cut short by an assassin's bullet.

      This book is not just another telling of the same story. It is written with a sense of purpose to show the passion behind Kennedy's dream to push America it's technical limits. Landing on the moon 50 years ago is simply amazing! What greatness with technological achievement has America accomplished since then?? Prepare yourself for a story that comes from another angle. I enjoyed it very much.
    • 4/5
      Right off the top, this book was absolutely not what I expected it to be. I fully expected a history of the Apollo program, with a little background colour as to how we got there.

      Nope, this book dives way back to the Fifties, and digs even farther back when discussing some of the early years of the key players (Kennedy, Werner Von Braun, Eisenhower, etc.). We're run through the build up to the space program, through its hesitant first steps. We're taken through all the political machinations for and against the space program, manned flights, and the moonshot.

      Surprisingly, it actually ends prior to the actual moonshot of July, 1969, and only covers it briefly in the epilogue, of all places (and honestly, that's literally the only reason for the one star off rating).

      Other than that, the content, the research, and the actual story are phenomenal, and it makes me remember how exciting the 1960s really were.
    • 5/5
      American Moonshot is a wonderful and detailed look at John F. Kennedy and the influence he had on the American space program. Douglas Brinkley weaves an exciting narrative around Kennedy, Wernher von Braun, Lyndon Johnson, and all of the astronauts, bureaucrats, engineers, and everybody else who was responsible to bring about the US Space program and to undertake Kennedy's bold vision of "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth". Told generally chronologically, the early part of the book tells dual narratives of Kennedy and von Braun as well as the other early pioneers of rocketry. As World War II end the narrative switches to be more focused on Kennedy, first as a member of congress, then his campaign for president, and his presidency.I really enjoyed this in depth look at the American space program. Many events were put in place before Kennedy became president, and maybe we would have eventually made it to the moon, but the drive, the passion, and the influence that Kennedy brought - not only to the public, but to the politicians and engineers - was really brought home for me. We've all heard the speeches (or at least the sound-byte) but to be able to pull back the curtain and see how everything happened - from the great speeches to the back-room deals - cast a light on one of the most important parts of space history.
    • 4/5
      Kennedy's passion and leadership served as the first stage of fuel for NASA's mission. Sadly, once his influence was spent, we never replaced his vision of the importance and impact of the space program in our daily lives.
    • 4/5
      Very interesting look at the US Space Program. This audio book lost 1 star on the ratings for the horribly mangled pronunciation of the German words, expressions etc. I know that with today's translating programs it is possible to hear the correct pronunciation before you read them into an audio book.
    • 5/5
      The fiftieth anniversary of the first lunar landing inspires the acclaimed historian to take a fresh look at the American space program, at President John Kennedy’s inspiring challenge, and at the race to the moon.Drawing on new primary source material, Douglas Brinkley brings this fascinating history to life as he turns the spotlight on the men and women who made this giant leap possible while exploring the technology and the political tensions of the time. Readers will find much to appreciate in this living history that chronicles one of our nation’s most thrilling events as it pays homage to the scientists and engineers whose magnificent efforts embody the curiosity and spirit of America. Highly recommended.