Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivals That Ignited the Space Age

This is an informative and fascinating look at a 16-year period in U.S., Soviet and German history, beginning with a German V-2 rocket attack on the UK in late 1944, and ending with the United States belatedly but finally catching up to and surpassing the Soviet Union in ballistic missiles and the space race.Prior to listening to this audiobook (which I've listened to twice already), I had the same sketchy, superficial knowledge of Sputnik that most people probably have, and which can be summed up in two or three sentences. There is so much more to the story, as this book's author, Matthew Brzezinski, reveals, starting with the role of German rocket scientists in the USSR's and the USA's missile efforts, and even before that, the activities by the US and Soviet military at the end of WWII to beat each other at tracking down and spiriting away German rockets, rocket parts, rocket manufacturing facilities, and rocket scientists (some of whom, Brzezinski suggests, probably were war criminals).Brzezinski provides a fascinating insight into the political, military and economic scene in the Soviet Union under Stalin and Khruschev, and how those spheres of activity impacted each other and the USSR's ballistic missile and space efforts. Brzezinski also explains how the USSR's early space firsts propelled it into a superpower in the eyes of world, even though the ironic reality was that it was all perception, not reality. Sure, the Soviets launched the first transcontinental missile and the first satellite into space, but observers outside the USSR, especially the US media, erroneously leapt to the conclusion that these firsts meant that the USSR was capable of raining missile-borne destruction on the US and its allies. As Brzezinski's research shows, nothing could have been further from the truth. No such attack was even remotely possible. Furthermore, the money that the Soviets sank into missile testing and space shots had been siphoned away from other military programs, the upshot of which was that the Soviets' overall military posture had been significantly weakened.Brzezinski also provides a fascinating look into the political and military scene in the Unites States, and the USA's missile and space efforts, which initially were hobbled and hindered by politicians and bureaucrats. One also learns fascinating details of the U2 program, life in 1950s El Paso, Texas and Huntsville, Alabama, and racial integration in the South. One cannot help but have a new opinion of Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon Johnson after learning about how they helped or hindered the US' missile and space initiatives.This book does an excellent job of describing and explaining an important part of US and Soviet history, thereby also helping the reader to have a better understanding of the US, USSR, and post-USSR Russia since then. If you are a Baby Boomer who was too preoccupied with childhood pursuits in the 1950s to be aware of the geopolitical and military scene in the US and USSR, this book will fill in some important gaps for you.

I was 10 years old and returning from Los Alamos, N.M. with my mother on October 4, 1957. We were just outside of Orogrande, N.M. when a special report came across the air waves and into the car radio. The Russians had launched an artificial satellite known as "Sputnik." My mother listened intently for a moment and then, made some comment to the affect: "Well, the Russians have beat us into space...we're in trouble now!" I had no "earthly" idea what a satellite was then, but grew up within it's shadow of turbulance.Matthew Brzezinski's "Red Moon Rising" is "top-notch" historical research and writing.Brzezinski places the reader into an elevated mono-rail and sends them down the paths of history never before seen or, known by the common citizen. He supplies his readers with a magnifying glass of knowledge which allows them to see what really went on from the "far left" to the "far right." Within that magnified strata the reader is privey to a great many things including world politics, aircraft design, rocketry, and everything in between. The "in-house" political squabbling between Military Generals, and inter-service rivalry is almost comical if, it were not so dangerously sad and true.The Soviet Union was testing their first IBM, when the United States Air Force was happily building up their fleets of bombers that were almost, obsolete by the time they took to wing. The Russians on the other hand, realizing they could not compete with the quality or, quantity of aircraft being built started focusing on the Rocket and it's far-reaching potentials. The Soviets were spending more money on rocket development, had a prototype ICBM, but could not perfect the problem with nose-cone re-entry burnup.A stale-mate of sorts began to develop until, the Russian scientists' decided to distract the military and Khrushchev from the the nose-cone reentry problem. After all, with the launch of a satellite into orbit, the need for an intact returning nose cone (or warhead) was irrelevant.The payload trajectory of a satellite was out and away, and not intended to be a quarterback's touch-down pass.Therefore, an "orbital field-goal" of a 184 pound polished aluminum sphere would be the political and symbolic football that scored the winning point of the game and...changed the world forever... as we once knew it!Brzezinski has out done himself, and I think Bryon Burroughs'superb book review shows you what a truly fine and indepth piece of work this is.What more can I say?

The book was published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the launching of Sputnik. What makes it so particularly fascinating is that the author has dug deep into now-released Soviet records and can tell both sides of the story--the American and the Soviet. The author paints a picture that shows that the Americans deliberately kept Wernher von Braun and his 100 or so German cohorts locked away for five years or so without really letting them do anything, and thus the Americans were five years behind where they could have been. I'm not sure this is quite convincing, but if not, it's barely short of convincing. In the event, it was the failure of an American-led civilian group that allowed the Army and von Braun to launch the first American satellite. But the thing that kept me from rating this five stars is that the book stops with the launching of the American satellite. I would very much have liked to see the book continue until the launching of first the Soviet cosmonaut and second the American astronaut, since all the same players were involved. Is this book worth purchasing and reading? You bet! It's full of tidbits that haven't hit the public stage before. And it doesn't cannonize von Braun, either--painting him as clearly in cahoots with those who managed the slave labor to get the V2s in the air, and later turned the driving force behind the American space effort.

A very good book from this author which I discovered recently.In this book, Mr Brzezinski tells us the story of the launching of the first satelite that man put into space.Nothing will ever change this fact but the man that reached space was Homo Sovieticus.Starting from the capture of a large number of German rocket scientists by the americans, through the first ICBM R7 built by Korolev to the final launching of Sputnik (PS1) and quickly later of PS2, the author reveal this intense period of history.one of the very few positive side of War is that it can sometimes push men to seek other means of imposing their supremacy than with weapons. Korolev worked himself to death to be the first man to launch a man made object into orbit.A negative point I found out is that the author proceeds relatively slowly in his book. Quite often, he comes back to earlier sections, re-explain concepts, or for example portrait a character that was introduced much earlier in the book. It may become irritating afer a while and you wish the author get to it quicker.Neverthless, a great book for anybody interested in the cold war, in the space conquest or simply history.

I've been reading a lot of Apollo/NASA books during lockdown,so I thought I'd read about the other side. This is slightly heavy on politics,but I quite enjoyed the look behind the iron curtain. Enjoyable,but don't expect lots of flight tech.

Although I haven't read this book I feel I must write a review! I gave it to my father-in-law to cheer him up and it couldn't have been a more gripping read. He enjoyed it so much, he said he simply couldn't put it down. My husband tells me he began re-reading it almost as soon as he'd finished it. He is fascinated in the space race age and who did and thought what. How about that for a mega good read?

Very good dramatization of the political and military reasons that led to Sputnik (and Laika) and of the first American satellite.

Thoroughly entertaining and fascinating read.