Provides a description of the history of mankind's exploration of space. This book examines the events that shaped the era and offers insight into the wide-ranging impact that this endeavour has had on technology, politics, and society.

It details the belated and often failure prone launches that humbled a great nation. The book describes the first attempts to reach the Moon and the planets and explains the techniques and physics involved. It illustrates the engineering requirements of the first manned spacecraft and the selection and experiences of the first spacefarers. Each chapter of each book analyses a topic so that readers can achieve a relatively complete understanding of a special interest area without the need to ferret information from multiple chapters. However, each chapter and each book is linked to the whole by a careful interconnection of a set of themes.

Prologue
Understanding the Heavens
On the Shoulders of Giants
The Rocket Societies
Peenemunde
Spoils of War
The Post-War Decade
Rocket Planes
Th Ultimate Weapon: The Path to Space
Planning an Earth Satellite
Reaction of the World to Sputnik
Too Little Too Late
The Mystique Continues
Spies in Space
Applications in Space
Tiger on a Leash: Liquid Hydrogen
The First Manned Spacecraft
Overcoming the Unknown
Military Present in Space
Probing the Planets
Epilogue
Index.