The First Men on the Moon - by David M Harland (Paperback)

About the Book

This book tells the story of Apollo 11. The story is brought to life by exploiting the flight plan, mission report and in-flight transcripts. A color section features the high-resolution scans recently produced by NASA from the original Hasselblad film.

Book Synopsis

This book offers a lively and definitive account of the Apollo 11 mission. It is based on the in-flight transcripts and post-flight debriefing, including conversations among the crew in the spacecraft that were not transmitted. It presents a color section that features the high-resolution scans recently produced by NASA from the original Hasselblad film. The introductory chapters review the motivation to land on the Moon by the end of the 1960s, the development of the Saturn V rocket and the Apollo spacecraft as the means of doing so, the selection of potential landing sites, the precursor missions, and the backgrounds of the three men who were to fly Apollo 11. In contrast to most books about Apollo, which concentrate on how NASA geared up for the program, 75% of this book is devoted to Apollo 11. This comprehensive account dispels the myth that NASA faked the moon landings. The author's expertise and considerable experience of writing about the Moon landings shines through and seamlessly unites the myriad details of the mission.

Review Quotes

From the reviews:

"Space historian Hartland begins with background about the astronauts and the mission, but mostly focuses on the actual time line and events of Apollo II. ... The book includes an excellent selection of full-page black-and-white photographs, a section of color images, and several interesting table about the mission. The conclusion mentions the world tour taken by the Apollo II crew and some of the geological results obtained from the lunar samples. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers." (J. Z. Kiss, CHOICE, Vol. 44 (9), May, 2007)

"The First Men on the Moon is a timely clarion call to turn our eyes again to the stars (or at least the Moon and Mars). ... This will be a 'must' for serious space buffs who want to have an archive of all the facts and figures of a pioneering mission and a nostalgic read for older buffers who fondly remember those heady days. At under £20 it is good value, well produced ... ." (David Stickland, The Observatory, Vol. 127 (1200), October, 2007)

"The prolific Mr Harland is back again with this detailed account of the flight of Apollo 11. ... The book is well illustrated throughout, and there's even a nice selection of colour plates ... . This is the first in series of books by Harland on each Apollo mission that will be published by Springer-Praxis in the coming years. If they are all as good as this one, then they will be welcome additions to any Apollo fan's library." (Liftoff, Issue 238, March-April, 2007)

"I have read many books on the Apollo program ... 'The First Men on the Moon' by David Harland is definitely on the top rung. ... suitable for anyone, from a senior aerospace engineer to someone totally new to reading about space exploration, and therein resides the genius of this book: the newcomers have things methodically explained in a logical manner allowing them to understand the intricacies of the mission ... . it is a very high quality product withexcellent illustrations ... ." (Robert I. Hedges, Customer Reviews, September, 2009)

"This book is a must for both hard core and causal readers of the subject. The casual reader will develop a greater understanding of linear events while the hard core Apollo enthusiast will enjoy the nuts and bolts of the procedures involved in the mission. In the end this is a must have for anyone's Apollo library." (B. Morris, Amazon, November, 2010)