Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space
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- Create Date：2021-04-24 17:31:04
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Stephen Walker
- ISBN：B08D9KCD1X
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Summary
A fresh and exciting take on an epic flight into space， the triumph of technology， and the Cold War battle in which the Soviets pre-empted the first American space mission by three weeks—a history with uncanny echoes of contemporary Russian resurgence at the expense of the U。S。
On April 12， 1961， twenty-seven-year old Yuri Gagarin， a Russian ex-foundry worker and loyal member of the Communist Party， climbed inside a tiny spherical capsule sitting on top of the Soviet Union’s most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile—originally designed to carry nuclear warheads—and blasted into space， becoming the first human to leave Earth。 For more than a year he and nineteen other cosmonauts had trained in secret for this pioneering mission。 Traveling at over 17，000 mph—ten times faster than the speed a rifle bullet travels—it took Gagarin 106 minutes to orbit the globe。 While the launch began in total secrecy， within hours of its successful completion it made headlines worldwide and transformed the unknown Gagarin into the most famous man on Earth。
On the 60th anniversary of that flight， Beyond tells the story of this epic moment in history。 In the darkest days of the Cold War， the race between the superpowers to put the first human in space was momentous。 While the Soviets space program was shrouded in secrecy， the Americans were openly training their astronauts， the Mercury Seven。 Colossal risks were taken on both sides。 The race to be first came down to a knife edge—in the end， a matter of just days separated the launches。
Drawing on original documentary research and eyewitnesses， many of whom have never spoken before， and featuring 32-pages of black-and-white photos， Beyond reconstructs the gripping tale of Gagarin’s flight， how it changed the world—and how one man first looked down on the beauty and fragility of our planet by riding a missile specifically designed to destroy it。
On April 12， 1961， twenty-seven-year old Yuri Gagarin， a Russian ex-foundry worker and loyal member of the Communist Party， climbed inside a tiny spherical capsule sitting on top of the Soviet Union’s most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile—originally designed to carry nuclear warheads—and blasted into space， becoming the first human to leave Earth。 For more than a year he and nineteen other cosmonauts had trained in secret for this pioneering mission。 Traveling at over 17，000 mph—ten times faster than the speed a rifle bullet travels—it took Gagarin 106 minutes to orbit the globe。 While the launch began in total secrecy， within hours of its successful completion it made headlines worldwide and transformed the unknown Gagarin into the most famous man on Earth。
On the 60th anniversary of that flight， Beyond tells the story of this epic moment in history。 In the darkest days of the Cold War， the race between the superpowers to put the first human in space was momentous。 While the Soviets space program was shrouded in secrecy， the Americans were openly training their astronauts， the Mercury Seven。 Colossal risks were taken on both sides。 The race to be first came down to a knife edge—in the end， a matter of just days separated the launches。
Drawing on original documentary research and eyewitnesses， many of whom have never spoken before， and featuring 32-pages of black-and-white photos， Beyond reconstructs the gripping tale of Gagarin’s flight， how it changed the world—and how one man first looked down on the beauty and fragility of our planet by riding a missile specifically designed to destroy it。
Reviews
Kjell
，
This is a chunky book but yet I read it in no time。 Sounds like a cliche but this book is really hard to put down。Stephen Walker manages to describe in parallell the US and Soviet efforts and competition when going for the first man in space。 Lots of detail but all relevant and never boring。 This is also a great lesson in history and loads of other learnings to made as well。Highly recommended， I consider this book a masterpiece。
Laurence Westwood
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Beyond is the thrilling story of man’s first journey into space sixty years ago， the extraordinary solo voyage taken by the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in Vostok 1 on the 12th April 1961。 Other books have been written about Yuri Gagarin but in Beyond the author Stephen Walker not only introduces new information gained from the personal interviews he conducted with many of the participants， but he also fixes the voyage of Vostok 1 firmly in time at the height of the Cold War。 So， not only do we get to Beyond is the thrilling story of man’s first journey into space sixty years ago， the extraordinary solo voyage taken by the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in Vostok 1 on the 12th April 1961。 Other books have been written about Yuri Gagarin but in Beyond the author Stephen Walker not only introduces new information gained from the personal interviews he conducted with many of the participants， but he also fixes the voyage of Vostok 1 firmly in time at the height of the Cold War。 So， not only do we get to understand the differences between the Soviet and American space programs in terms of their respective approaches to rocket engineering and risk-taking， but also the differing political pressures that were brought to bear on those programs。 I have to admit I was first baffled by the inclusion of detail， for instance， on the Cuban Bay of Pigs fiasco until I realised that it helped me to not only place the voyage of Vostok 1 at an important point of history but also to understand the decisions that would soon be taken in the White House in the aftermath of the voyage that would lead to the creation of the Apollo program and the race to put a man on the moon。Though the engineering problems faced by the Soviet and American space programs never exactly take a back seat， this book is as much， if not more so， about the participants。 It is about the similarities and contrasts between the Soviet cosmonauts and American astronauts， between the Soviet leader Khrushchev and American president John F。 Kennedy， and between the Soviet rocket designer （and former gulag inmate） Korolev and the American rocket designer （and former Nazi） von Braun。 It is about the difficult and moving relationship between Yuri Gagarin， the very young， always smiling， always charismatic， first choice by the Soviet program to take the first flight into space， and his back-up， the much more complicated， Pushkin quoting， Gherman Titov， who would never ever properly come to terms with not being the first man in space。 It is also about the difficult and moving relationship between the much more mature and experienced Americans， the first choice， the very complicated Alan Shepard， and his back up John Glenn， the all-American hero。What really impresses about this book is the quality of the writing， how easy it is to read， how exciting it is to read。 Perhaps， this is because Stephen Walker， through the various drafts the book took to write， could never hide his own excitement， his own passion for Yuri Gagarin’s story – and what a story it is。 It cannot be said that we are now truly complacent about space flight but it is hard to imagine sixty years on the huge risks that men like Yuri Gagarin – sometimes knowingly， sometimes unknowingly – were willing to take for their country， for the thrill of going where no human has gone before， for the pride to be called the first man in space。 This book captures all this， as well as the tragic aftermath， the return from space by Yuri Gagarin to a very different world – a world that saw him as much more than the smiling and very brave young man that he was。 He had become a symbol of Soviet prestige， someone that the whole world wanted to touch。One final comment on this superb book: some readers unfamiliar with space exploration history may find themselves distressed by the often detailed discussions about the animals sent up into space by both the Soviet and American space programs， voyages more often than not that led to the animals’ deaths。 However， these stories， though sad， are an important and very often ignored or forgotten part of the history of space exploration， and Stephen Walker gives them all their proper due。Highly recommended！！ 。。。more
Sue Foster
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Excellent well written book。 The author has an easy to writting style which allows the reader to engage with the people in this book on a personal level。 There fears and frustration as they pushed the new technology almost to the limit。 The courage of these space pioneers Russian and American is shown clearly。 The book alternates by chapters between the two groups which works well as it gives you the feel of the race。 I started the book and finished it three days later。 An amazing read。
Barrowsend
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Fascinating insight into the human side of the race into space。
Dan
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My thanks to NetGalley and to Harper for an advanced copy of this book。 In Beyond The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space， Stephen Walker takes us back to the middle of the Cold War where the Soviet Union and the United States fought for every opportunity to be thought of as superior， be it on the ground， in the press， in the hearts and in the sky。 The Soviets took the lead with Sputnik， but soon both nations were shooting a Noah's ark of animals， dogs My thanks to NetGalley and to Harper for an advanced copy of this book。 In Beyond The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space， Stephen Walker takes us back to the middle of the Cold War where the Soviet Union and the United States fought for every opportunity to be thought of as superior， be it on the ground， in the press， in the hearts and in the sky。 The Soviets took the lead with Sputnik， but soon both nations were shooting a Noah's ark of animals， dogs， chimpanzees， mice， hoping that with each launch the knowledge gained would aid in being the first nation to escape the Earth's gravity。 My favorite parts were about the men of both nations chosen watching animals and dummies being fired into the sky， wishing it were themselves， and knowing that firing another chimp meant the opposition could get ahead and win。 Mr。 Walker has a great gift of you are there for this moments from his extensive research and interviewing everyone he could， with clear explanations of the science and the politics。 The people though really are given their time on the stage a very interesting well written history about a time where science and doing things had a way of uniting people， and how reaching your dream of soaring high might not be worth it in the end。 。。。more
Rosann
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