[.ca] Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching for the Moon (ISBN 0803213328)

Poignant, Moving, Absorbingly Informative.:
Poignant, moving, and absorbingly informative, "Fallen Astronauts" is an extraordinary, lasting tribute to America's astronauts and the Soviet Union's cosmonauts who reached for the moon, but tragically lost their lives while pursuing their goal. Equally important, authors Colin Burgess, Kate Doolan, and Bert Vis tell of the wrenching but inspiring effects of the fallen heroes losses on the lives of loved ones left behind, stories seldom told in accounts of the brave and courageous. While readers receive a capsule history of the early, pioneering days in the race to the moon, the book's mini-biographies tell us of the backgrounds, personalities, young lives, and good humor of those who risked so much and dared so magnificently. The depth and breadth of research and writing are evident, making clear to readers that each astronaut contributed greatly to advancing the mission, though their lives were grievously brief. Recollections of them by their wives and children, and the remarkable tributes on the surface of the moon by fellow astronauts, are touching, and bring warmth and balance to stories otherwise forever lost in the sparkling magic of space travel and discovery. "Fallen Astronauts" is a joy to read and adds a memorably eloquent dimension to the spectacular triumphs in space exploration.

I had tears in my eyes...:
.. this book was one of the most moving I have ever written. It takes you right to the heart of these forgotten men, and makes you realize just how important they were. It also appalled me to read that Ed Givens is still missing from the Astronaut Memorial, and I have decided to write to my political representatives about this. Any book that could move me this much must be good. But don't take my word for it - when you have astronauts posting reviews on Amazon.com (see other reviews here), you know it must be a good book!

Hard to put down!:
Hard to put down - nice to read about the person not just the astronaut! Great that the families had a say in the final copy.

Great Variation on Well Covered Area:
A very impressive book, especially given that it was authored partly from Australia and over 30 years after these astronauts had died. The authors have done a (generally) excellent job with their research. It was especially interesting to learn what became of the widows once they left the "astronaut family". If there is one fault with the book, it is the inconsistency with which those stories about the widows were told. It would have been nice to have complete stories about all the widows, but this may well have been due to the sensitivities of the families. I thought the lack of any reference to Pat White's ultimate suicide (if I recall correctly) years after Ed White's death was an important omission. One of the other astronaut biographies (it may have been Walt Cunningham's All American Boys) mentions that sad event in passing, attributing it to her feelings of loss after White's death in Apollo 1. The chapter about Ed Givens is, perhaps, one of the most important in the book. Of all the astronaut deaths in the 1960s, this one has always been given the least attention, simply because it was not due to spacecraft accident (Grissom, White, Chaffee) or aircraft accident (Freeman, Bassett, See, Williams). It was almost seen as not having been in the line of duty (which of course it was). I, for one, felt Ed Givens's story always deserved more attention. Overall, a great book and a refreshingly (although tragic) new slant on an era that has been generally well covered in other biographies and texts. Well done to all concerned.

Author's Response to Book Query:
Message from author Colin Burgess: in regard to the query from the reviewer in South Australia, information on the circumstances of the death of Pat White was deliberately excluded from "Fallen Astronauts" in deference to the specific wishes of the family of astronaut Ed White, who asked that it not be included as a condition of assisting the authors with other vital family information. The omission is regretted, but its absence is also a mark of the respect we paid to all the families of these wonderful men. In answer to another query from the same reviewer, the book in question is "Countdown," by Frank Borman.