Countdown: A History of Space Flight Paperback - 1999

First line

IT WAS NOON on a bright-blue autumn day in early October of the war year 1942.

From the rear cover

T. A. Heppenheimer's acclaimed chronicle of rockets, politics, and the pioneers who dared to reach beyond humanity's limits.

"The most comprehensive, up-to-date, and best written history of space flight there is."
--The Times (London)

"A lively account of the development of space activities in the U.S. and the Soviet Union . . . as good a one-volume overview of space as exists."
--Scientific American

"Countdown is by far the best history of space flight I have ever read. It is detailed, lucidly written for the layman, and full of fascinating stories."
--Adrian Berry, Daily Telegraph

"Science writer Heppenheimer's readable account provides a timely historical overview of the early visionaries, the engineers, and the geopolitical forces that placed men on the moon and created today's aerospace industry. . . . A thoughtful analysis that is highly recommended."
--Library Journal

"By far the most significant and technically insightful account of the ventures into the space environment I have seen. . . . [Heppenheimer] concentrates unerringly on key elements, both technical and managerial, in this account of man's initial space ventures."
--Lee Atwood, Former president and chairman, North American Aviation Corporation

"Like a skilled artisan, Heppenheimer weaves social, political, scientific, technological, military, and economic threads of the history of space flight into a tapestry that reveals fascinating patterns and themes."
--Publishers Weekly