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  Into That Silent Sea (Burgess, French) (Page 3)

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Author Topic:   Into That Silent Sea (Burgess, French)
ASCAN1984
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From: County Down, Nothern Ireland
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posted 01-12-2008 02:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ASCAN1984   Click Here to Email ASCAN1984     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Well I am in the middle of "Into that Silent Sea" and I am a little disappointed. Why? Because it is going to end soon.

I can honestly say that without question it is the best book I have very read. Wow. I am totally loving it which is why I am going so slow because I want to savour it and I don't want it to end.

My favourite bits so far are the sections about the cosmonauts. I never really knew much about the early ones and since first reading it I have gained so much more respect for the Russian spaceflight pioneers. Titov sounds like he was quite a character.

Well done Francis and Colin. An outstanding job.

ColinBurgess
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From: Sydney, Australia
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posted 01-12-2008 04:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thank you for such a humbling review of our book. Many thanks.

FFrench
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From: San Diego
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posted 03-13-2008 11:35 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The International Women in Aviation Conference is taking place in San Diego this week. Wally Funk, who went through the same Lovelace Clinic medical tests given to the Mercury astronaut candidates and whose story is told along with Wally Schirra's in "The Two Wallys" chapter of the book, is there and signed some copies of "Into That Silent Sea" for my co-workers. Wally will be giving a talk on Saturday, at which point she and I will be signing copies of the book for attendees.

mdmyer
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posted 03-17-2008 08:29 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for mdmyer   Click Here to Email mdmyer     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Al Worden has added a five star review to the others who love this book on Amazon.

ColinBurgess
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posted 03-28-2008 05:30 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks Mike for pointing out that great Al Worden review of the book, and I see that collectSPACE poster Gareth has also placed a review on Amazon. That was very nice of you as well, Gareth - thank you.

We also spotted that UK bookseller Waterstones put the following recommendation online from one of their booksellers, Sarah Skinner:

I have read many books of varying quality on the history of the manned space programme and this is by far the best I have come across. Chapter by chapter a different mission and astronaut/cosmonaut are talked about. There is a fine balance between the science and the history of the mission as well as a wealth of personal information about each pioneering traveller. Equal weight is given to both the Russian and American space programmes and enough detail is given so that you feel like you are really experiencing the missions - problems and all. This book is for anyone interested in the history of spaceflight and no scientific knowledge is required to fully enjoy the history. I just wish that I had been around to see some of these missions as they happened.

bruce
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posted 03-31-2008 10:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for bruce   Click Here to Email bruce     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There's a really thoughtful review of Into That Silent Sea in the December 2007 issue of The Journal of American Cultures magazine.

Reviewer Matthew H. Hersch of The University of Pennsylvania points out a key reason why this book succeeds by stating "Rather than recounting the first five years of American and Soviet spaceflight in simple narrative form, the authors let the spacefarers(and would-be spacefarers like female aviator Wally Funk) speak for themselves through ten chronological character studies of figures familiar to spaceflight enthusiasts like first person in space Yuri Gagarin and the enigmatic and larger-than-life Project Mercury astronaut "Gordo" Cooper, who passed away while proofreading the manuscript. With unusual access to their sources, the authors enrich conventional accounts of these characters, walking a delicate line between history and hagiography."

Hersch goes on to say "They have indulged their sources and have been rewarded with a wealth of detail, some of it minor, but much of it intriguing to anyone attempting to figure out what was actually floating around in the heads of people floating around in space. (Titov imagined Earth as a grain of sand on a vast cosmic beach; then he barfed.)"

Hersch concludes with "Silent Sea may serve as an epitaph for these thoughtful men and women; then again, it may well be that history prefers to remember the first space travelers as a group of daredevils, blissful and simple, for whom no frontier was forbidden."

It's nice to see this book given the kudos it deserves.

FFrench
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From: San Diego
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posted 04-01-2008 12:38 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks, Bruce, for posting that. That Titov line is certainly a memorable one! The full review was a very interesting read for me, as you can imagine - thanks.

FFrench
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posted 07-14-2008 12:13 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Two new reviews this week of "Into That Silent Sea," that I thought might interest readers here. The first is by Apollo 7 astronaut Walter Cunningham, and is posted on the book's Amazon page. Feel free to vote on it if you find it helpful, and while there you might also wish to read the posting three reviews down by Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden.

The second review is in the Summer 2008 edition of "Air Power History," a publication of the Air Force Historical Foundation. The review by Rick Sturdevant (Deputy Director of History, HQ Air Force Space Command) begins with:

After hundreds of books about the early years of human spaceflight, why should anyone be interested in one more? Someone who has read this book might have a positive answer. Rarely, in either the historical or biographical genres is a work so exceptional or so substantively and stylistically enticing, that the average person simply cannot put it down before reading it cover to cover. "Into That Silent Sea," the first volume in a series titled Outward Odyssey: A People's History of Spaceflight, is that sort of book.

That's the kind of review opening that any writer dreams of...!

alanh_7
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posted 08-09-2008 02:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for alanh_7   Click Here to Email alanh_7     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have just finished reading the book "Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965" by Francis French and Colin Burgess. I have read a great many books on space flight, but I found this book to be a one of the best. A real page turner and one of the best personal accounts I have read on the subject of manned spaceflight. Well written and extremely interesting I could not put this book down.

I am sure many on this website have read this book, but for those who have not, make sure you add "Into the Silent Sea" to your list of must read books.

FFrench
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From: San Diego
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posted 08-18-2008 06:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks so much for your kind words, Alan - much appreciated.

ColinBurgess
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posted 08-21-2008 01:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Alan, thank you so much for becoming part of this incredible journey that Francis and I began about five years ago, and for your kind words of praise for the book at Amazon. I know we both continue to be quite astounded that so many wonderful people have given their time and energy to recognise our efforts in words and reviews, and I can assure you it is sincerely appreciated.

To badly paraphrase Jack Nicholson, you make us want to be better writers.

ColinBurgess
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posted 10-07-2008 03:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I'm delighted to announce that "Into That Silent Sea" will be released next Fall in quality paperback format by Bison Books, a subsidiary of the University of Nebraska Press. At our suggestion, this time the book will include an index. No release date is known at this time, nor is it known if other books in the Outward Odyssey series will follow suit.

cspg
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posted 10-07-2008 11:41 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for cspg   Click Here to Email cspg     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
At our suggestion, this time the book will include an index.

And I have been heard. Am I not cool or what? (See March 12, 2007 post.)

ColinBurgess
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posted 10-08-2008 01:29 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yes, when news of the paperback edition came to us, Francis suggested we ask about having an index added in light of criticism of this point in a number of otherwise very positive reviews, and the folks at Bison agreed. So yes, you've had a bit of an influence in this decision I'm pleased to say.

ColinBurgess
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posted 10-20-2008 04:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As noted on this thread, this book, along with its companion volume "In the Shadow of the Moon," was named as a finalist for the 2007 Eugene M. Emme Award for Astronautical Literature, as awarded by the American Astronautical Society. Both Francis and I are extremely pleased and honoured to have received this most eminent nomination and recognition for our work, and it is our sincere hope that other books in the Outward Odyssey series might receive similar recognition in the years to come.

jasonelam
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posted 02-16-2009 07:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for jasonelam   Click Here to Email jasonelam     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I recently purchased "Into That Silent Sea", and I have to say it is one of the best space history books I have read in a long time! The amount of information that Colin and Francis give to the stories behind the flights, and most importantly to the people behind the missions, is something to behold. There was a lot of information that I didnt know, and I couldn't put the book down!

Thank you again for such a wonderful work that definitely needs to be in any space enthusiasts library!

ColinBurgess
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From: Sydney, Australia
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posted 02-16-2009 11:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thank you for your kind works and also for the great review you placed on Amazon. Much appreciated.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 07-24-2009 02:09 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I received an e-mail from University of Nebraska Press today announcing the availability of the paperback version.

FFrench
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From: San Diego
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posted 08-08-2009 06:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As Colin mentions, this paperback edition does not only add an index, but there are also some very minor tweaks to photos and text. These are not major factual amendments, but on the whole are minor clarifications of detail as new information came to light (especially as more information comes out of the Soviet Union). Hopefully, the index and these amendments will make the paperback edition even more useful to researchers, as well as the general reader.

ASCAN1984
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From: County Down, Nothern Ireland
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posted 11-05-2009 03:32 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ASCAN1984   Click Here to Email ASCAN1984     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I saw last night that the book is dedicated to Scott Carpenter and Gherman Titov and I was just wondering is there a story behind this?

ColinBurgess
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posted 11-05-2009 04:54 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I believe the next line of the inscription says it all. "Sometimes being next is tougher than being first." We just wanted to give a nod of recognition to the two men who flew the less-heralded second orbital missions for their respective nations.

ASCAN1984
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From: County Down, Nothern Ireland
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posted 11-05-2009 03:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ASCAN1984   Click Here to Email ASCAN1984     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great dedication. Gherman Titov. What a guy. "You have barbecue you burn down house" So sad he has left this earthly realm. Loved the chapter on him. How he managed to get selected and fly the second flight with his habit of being prone to argue I do not know. Real shame he did not fly any more flights. Would have been brilliant to see. Was sad to hear he was a little more subdued when you met him Colin. By the way, totally jealous. Being second is truly harder than being first. Again fantastic dedication.

Shalene
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posted 03-24-2010 09:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Shalene     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Wally Funk signing copies of “Into That Silent Sea” at Grossmont College, El Cajon, California, last week.

ProfKSergeev
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posted 07-07-2015 01:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ProfKSergeev     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
From July of 2014 to January of this year, I consumed nearly every word that had ever been written about the beginning of the space race. I read general histories, autobiographies, ghostwritten memoirs, technical dossiers, internal memos, even transcripts of speeches given to church groups.

As it turns out, the last book I read should have been, perhaps, the only one, because it contained every morsel I had gleaned from my prior reading and then some.

"Into That Silent Sea" was that last book, and in my estimation it is the finest single reference one can find on that first tumultuous lustrum in the most exciting period of human history.

French and Burgess have taken what, in the hands of lesser writers, would have been merely a dry enumeration of facts, and spun them, without sensationalizing, into a thrilling, cohesive account.

This is a highly recommended reference both for the space historian and the amateur.

ColinBurgess
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From: Sydney, Australia
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posted 07-08-2015 08:35 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I can assure you that both Francis and I were quite moved by your review of our book and thank you for taking the time to write those nice words. It is always a pleasant feeling to be recognised for something that you have put a lot of hours of effort into accomplishing, and we are not only delighted that you enjoyed our work, but have given it such a glowing endorsement. Thank you.

FFrench
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posted 07-09-2015 04:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Indeed, thank you so much for that! I am so glad you enjoyed it.

FFrench
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From: San Diego
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posted 05-16-2022 11:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A nice new review of "Into That Silent Sea," along with other space books that should interest folks here...


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