Two Sides of the Moon

Absolutely brilliant book. I recommend it to anyone interested in the workings of NASA and the USA and USSR during the Space Race. It gives a detailed, and to some extent, unbiased view of the actual things going on during the such a tense time, from both the eyes of an American astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut.
Both stories begin from childhood and show the development of their lives, rising up the ranks to both become highly respected people. Once again, thoroughly recommended.

Two good space biographies for the price of one (5/5 people found this helpful)

This detailed and entertaining book tells the respective stories of U.S. astronaut Dave Scott and Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov. A succinct and genuinely interesting foreword by Neil Armstrong lays out the context. Thereafter, Scott and Leonov alternate chapters, all written in the first person.

Their respective upbringings and pilot backgrounds are described at just the right length, followed by the pair's recruitment to opposite sides of the space race.

Leonov offers a candid account of his and man's first ever spacewalk in 1965 as well as his frustrations as the U.S. later took the lead in the rush to land a man on the moon. Meanwhile, Scott provides rare detail of his frightening Gemini 8 mission and a full review of walking and driving on the moon with Apollo 15. Scott's chapters in particular are very well written and he does credit writer Christine Toomey in the acknowledgements.

It was only when Scott assisted with preparations for the early 70s Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) that he and Leonov became good friends and the latter sections here describe how that led to this joint biography. ASTP gets little attention all these years later, so Leonov's account of his part in the mission is valuable.

Twenty-odd photos from Leonov, including a couple of his paintings, and a similar number from Scott round the book out. Worth adding to any collection of Apollo-related biographies, this paperback gives double the value for its added insight to the Russian space effort.

A review.... (5/5 people found this helpful)

The books authors are both men with extensive space flight experience, Leonov was, amongst other things, the first man to walk in space and the commander Soyuz craft that docked with the American vehicle in the historic 1975 joint mission. Scott went into orbit in Gemini 8 with Neil Armstrong and also made a landing and walked on the Moon as commander of Apollo 15.

The format of the book is that periods from 1965 to 1975 are split into arbitariry portions and each astronaut/cosmonaut writes anything between a couple of paragraphs and several pages on subjects such as events in his personal life, his country but mainly in his countries space programme. Because of the format used the book is very easy to read and can skip effortlessly from USA to the USSR and back again without losing any momentum or it feeling forced. All the main characters and events are covered from a personal perspective, the first satellite –Sputnik, Korolev, von Braun, Gargarins first space flight, the death of Komarov, Americas initial problems getting a reliable launch vehicle, the tragedy of Apollo 1, the USSR/USA casualties that occurred during training/preparation for flights as well as all the successes of the various missions and the men behind them. Fascinating stuff.

The only slight disappointment for me came in the Epilogue where Scott uses it for a bit of gloating/ political tub-thumping over America getting to the Moon first. It’s nothing too major but I goes so much against the spirit in which the rest of the book is written that it’s really noticeable and a bit puzzling.

USA -V- RUSSIA RESULT SCORE DRAW (2/3 people found this helpful)

There are very few books left by any of the Mercury-Apollo astronaughts that I have not read, so I had a good idea of what to expect. However, these two early explorers attack thier subject in a very refreshing manner that makes this an enjoyable read.
I had anticiapted that Dave Scott would use the book as a chance to bite back as some NASA officials for making him and his crew scapegoat for selling spaceflight memrobillia. I guess this had always been a minor perk with most US astronaughts when they put their neck on the line, sitting on top of a balistic missile. However, Scott comes across as one of the less arrogant astronaughts and deals with the issus in a fair an practicle way (which others do not)
Leonov and Scott come across as the type of guys you would be happy to sit down and share a beer (or vodka) with in a bar. A good book and a worthy addtion to my colletion .

Exceptional (3/3 people found this helpful)

I bought this book because I like space related titles, however this book also provides a real (scary) insight into the workings of the US and USSR at the height of the cold war from the people at the front provided from both sides.

David Scott, Alexei Leonov

Reader Reviews:

Thoroughly recommended! (2/2 people found this helpful)

Two good space biographies for the price of one (5/5 people found this helpful)

A review.... (5/5 people found this helpful)

USA -V- RUSSIA RESULT SCORE DRAW (2/3 people found this helpful)

Exceptional (3/3 people found this helpful)

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