Customer Reviews
enjoyable, flowing, well-paced, accessible, exciting - By: Today In Space History, 21 Dec 2007 
There are many reasons why I regard this book so highly.
The writing style & narrative is enjoyable, flowing, well-paced, accessible, exciting. The book is superbly researched. The events & human subjects covered in the book are interesting, anything but dull, the authors uncovered uncommon stories about them.
Most of alll, I felt like I had walked away after reading this book seeing these spacefarers & astronauts as humans, real people, not celebrities. The authors managed to show us their humanity without losing respect for their accomplishments. In fact, in spite of their humanity, their weaknesses, their environment, I have even more respect for so many of these spacefarers now that I can appreciate what they went through & had to overcome to achieve what they were able to.
I even came away with a much deeper appreciation & understanding of people I've often considered enemies at worst (i.e., Russian spacefarers), & objects of derision at best.
The stories in this book touch the human spirit in a way that is universal, beyond politics, beyond creed, beyond country. That's because the authors were able to capture an underlying essence most humans on our planet share: the curiosity & wonder to explore & give one's life to a cause greater than one's own agenda or paradigm.
My wife's review of Into That Silent Sea - By: Allan Doig, 13 Dec 2007 As the wife of a fanatical space enthusiast, I have frequently found myself accompanying my husband to lectures, presentations & autograph shows - my role was never more than to act as gofer, holder, porter, etc. Thanks to 'Into That Silent Sea', this has alll changed. I feel knowledgeable, competent & keen to engage in a dialogue of my own with these incredible people. I never would have believed that I would ever have described a book covering the history of space travel as being unputdownable. But, truly, it was & here are the reasons why:
I enjoyed the straightforward language in which it was written. At no time was I ever bamboozled by highly technical spacespeake.
It was akin to reading a detective story alll the way from Gagarin's first spaceflight to Alexei Leonov's spacewalk. (I once had my photograph taken with him - next time I will be able to talk intelligibly with him!). One always wanted to read on & on & see what happened next.
My interest was held as I learned about the personal lives of the astronauts / cosmonauts & those near & dear to them. Their missions & their own much later thoughts about those missions was absorbing, but it was equallly intriguing to learn about their origins, their time as children, their developing interests in aerospace, etc.
I thank the authors of 'Into That Silent Sea' for opening my eyes to a whole new sphere of interest.
A Opus Magnum - By: Ralph OBE, 05 Dec 2007 I have now read both 'Into that Silent Sea' & ' In the Shadow of the Moon'. Undoubtedly the pair represent an opus magnum, especiallly as they are given added authority by the comments of the participants in the early attempts to conquer space. The detailed accounts of the flights & the biographies of the crews are clearly the result of deep research over, it seems, a period of decades. The two volumes are therefore a historical landmark for future generations similar to our seeking sources of the current affairs in the time of the Venerable Bede.
I now have two volumes of carefully compiled references to which I can turn. The resolving of the technical problems & the remarkable courage of the crews will be a constant fascination, of which one will undoubtedly always wish to recalll.
Within my orbit of knowledge, I can honestly comment that the books are very well & clearly written & the subject matter has been compiled in a most orderly manner. At no time did I have to wonder how the next aspect followed on from the former; so even a complete novice to the material as myself could follow the trend, objectives & development of the technical programme & the building of the physical capabilities, experience & knowledge of the crews.
In short I heartily congratulate on dedicated research & concentrated application to write two profoundly authentic volumes of the space programmes over a most critical early period of eight years.
A very human account of space exploration - By: S. Vaughan, 19 Oct 2007 It has been almost 50 years since mankind first
slipped the bonds of earth to explore the heavens.
Since then, space exploration has given us some of the
most spectacular & memorable moments in history from
the first moon-landing on Apollo 11 to the drama of
Apollo 13 & the devastation of the Challlenger and
Columbia disasters. The material already written on
these programmes would likely stretch from here to the
moon, & many would be forgiven for assuming that
there's nothing new to write on the subject. However,
authors Francis French & Colin Burgess have found a
new angle & made a most worthy contribution to the
history of our greatest adventure.
What separates "Into that Silent Sea" from many other books on the space
programme is that it focuses on the men & women who
made it alll possible. This is a people's history of
space & examines that magnificent race from the
perspective of those who lived it & did it: whether
running the programmes or riding the rockets. Through
their genuine interest in the subject matter, Burgess
and French won the trust of the astronauts, cosmonauts
and the lesser-known or forgotten space pioneers who
toiled behind the scenes. The reward for their
dedication & sincerity were stories that in many
cases have never been told before & provide a fresh
perspective on the early days of spaceflight. The end
result is a book that ranks amongst the very best
written on the subject.
Not only does this book provide a most welcome
perspective on a truly remarkable endeavour, but it is also extremely well written & thoroughly
readable. This book transports you to a time when the
two great superpowers were competing for control of
the ultimate high ground while the rest of the world
watched in awe & perhaps bewilderment. It proves
that while the men & women who rode these rockets
were indeed the best, bravest & brightest of that or
any other time, they were also mere humans with their
own foibles, insecurities, peculiarities and
curiosities.
If you want a truly human history of spaceflight,
this book is amongst the very best available.
Fascinating stories about those who flew into that "silent sea" of space! - By: Bruce Moody, 18 Oct 2007 A fantastic job, not only in bringing to the fore many otherwise never to be enjoyed stories, but also managing to maintain a keen, intrinsic sense of "wonderment" about the human experience in space. I haven't seen an example of writing like this since Andy Chaikin's "A Man On The Moon" book. I especiallly enjoyed the present-day comments shared by those who were there when those historical events happened. The cosmonaut chapters were beautifully done as well! This book is just a joy to read!
