A Ball, a Dog, and a Monkey, Michael DAntonio
A Ball, a Dog, and a Monkey, Michael DAntonio
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A Ball, a Dog, and a Monkey
1957---The Space Race Begins

Author: Michael D'Antonio

Narrator: Alan Sklar

Unabridged: 10 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/02/2007


Synopsis

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Michael D'Antonio captures the wackiness of the first year of the space race as the Americans scrambled desperately to match the Soviets and President Eisenhower intervened to guarantee that the space program would not be run by the military.

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite into orbit around the earth. Little more than a month later, the Soviets launched Sputnik II. News of Sputnik created panic in Washington, D.C., and throughout the United States. Within days, the U.S. military began a madcap race to space full of crashes, skullduggery, and backstabbing until Eisenhower's secret civilian program surpassed the Soviets by putting the first American—a hero monkey named Gordo—into orbit.

D'Antonio draws on archives, film footage, and interviews with many of the scientists, reporters, and others who were involved in the first year of the space race. He recounts the early days of the space race with all the zaniness and urgency of the time, just in time for fiftieth anniversary commemorations.

About Michael D'Antonio

As part of a team of journalists from Newsday, Michael D'Antonio won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting before going on to write many acclaimed books, including Atomic Harvest and The State Boys Rebellion. He has also written for Esquire, the New York Times Magazine, and Sports Illustrated.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul

A fascinating history of the first two years of the space race, 1957 and 1958. As the time period covered implies, Michael D'Antonio's purpose is strictly limited to the early Soviet and U.S. efforts to hurl objects into space, from the first Sputnik to the U.S. launch of an entire Atlas missile car......more

Goodreads review by Charlie

I enjoyed D'Antonio's writing style and had to respect the extensive research that he put into the book. Also, I found the idea of reporting on a period of time as opposed to a particular person or event very interesting. With all of the hoopla surrounding the anniversary of the moon landing, I enjo......more

Goodreads review by Eric_W

The effect of Sputnik on the United States was electrifying. I was about 10 at the time. As it happened, we were on the 2nd and last year of our sojourn in Germany where my father was researching at the University of Heidelberg. The effect there was minimal, but from what I’ve read since, everyone i......more