posted 01-03-2021 10:34 AM               

If the United States couldn't catch up to the Soviets in space, how could it compete with them on Earth? That was the question facing John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War ― a moment when the Soviet Union built the wall in Berlin, tested nuclear bombs more destructive than any in history, and beat the US to every major milestone in space. The race to the heavens seemed a race for survival ― and America was losing.

When John Glenn blasted into orbit on February 20, 1962, his mission was greater than circling Earth; it was to calm the fears of the free world and renew America's sense of self-belief. Mercury Rising re-creates the sense of tension to a flight that riveted the world. Drawing on new sources, interviews, and Glenn's personal notes, Mercury Rising shows how the astronaut's heroics lifted the nation's hopes in what Kennedy called the "hour of maximum danger."

• Hardcover
  
• W.W. Norton & Company (June 1, 2021)
  
• ISBN-10: 1324003243
  
• ISBN-13: 978-1324003243

posted 03-14-2021 01:35 PM            

"Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War" is a book worthy of the centenary. John Glenn's life story — Marine aviator, war hero, astronaut, Senator, Presidential candidate — has been so picked over that there may be little new to say. What can be done, however, is to evaluate in new ways, and tell a damn good story while doing so. This book excels at both...

posted 04-03-2021 10:13 AM               

Yes, NASA's "This New Ocean" has a solid institutional account, Wolfe's "The Right Stuff" is unforgettably Gonzo and thrillingly true.