The Soviet Space Program: First Steps: 1941–1953 (The Soviets in Space Series, 1)

If you are looking for source information about Soviet rocket work during this era there is a lot here. But it's mostly reported uncritically, along with some material that feels like padding. The writing is poor, and a harsh editor would have helped a lot.Don't buy this book expecting a well-narrated story.I was provided a copy for review by the publisher.

Interesting , but nothing to write home to Baikonur about...

Very disapointing

I was instantly on my guard because there is no bibliography and no consistent indications where the reported facts are coming from (annotations, etc.). One two-page spread, ostensibly about the Soviet experience during the early part of the 1941 German invasion, actually summarizes (and shows images from) a dramatized motion picture made about it! Also, some sidebars appear to have nothing to do with the Soviet space program, and the entire thing is very choppy.There is room in the literature for a more "popular" approach than the dense (but excellent) Challenge to Apollo, but this one is not it.

There are three books in this series available from the publisher (so far as I know) which describe the USSR's space program up to the N-1 era. There are also volumes covering the USA, but I've not seen these.All are decent and workmanlike. There are many parts of this volume which appear to be a rehash of Boris Chertok's 'Rockets and People' but the new, lighter treatment is far more readable than Chertok's micro-details and therefore stands as a good introduction to the source material.Some of the translations are, I think, a little clumsy and have resulted in some stilted and opaque passages. Similarly, I'm not utterly convinced regarding a few of the diagrams, possibly also due to translation issues.Overall, I'd give all of them 5 stars if they were issued as a slightly re-edited second editions - not least because they are relatively small (6"x9")and don't crowd my poor bookshelves any further. However, in view of the editing issues this edition ( and I refer to all three) will get **** instead!

On a toujours pensé qu'en 1945 les USA avaient eut la part du lion en mettant la main sur l'équipe von braun et que les soviétiques n'avaient eu que des miettes. Ce livre permet de se rendre compte qu'avec l'URSS, la quantité à pallié la qualité et que même celle-ci n'était pas absente!