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From Booklist
This title is definitely one of the best books written about Apollo
in recent years. An exuberantly visual treatment of the Saturn/Apollo
combination and its specific missions, the work also rues the fact that the Apollo
program was rushed to meet JFK's deadline, and didn't fully realize the dreams
of Werner von Braun and other 1950s space dreamers whose visions were captured
in the paintings of Chesley Bonestell. These form several of a train of full-page
sidebars that dominate this book, a design element that invites browsing. Almost
every major component of the Apollo complex is displayed, from
the ground installations, to the titanic first stage, up to the moonwalker's spacesuit.
Standing out among these layouts
are those devoted to the most daring and scientifically significant missions,
Apollo 15 and 17. Using a panoramic photographic mosaic of those
two landing sites amid mountains, Reynolds forcefully impresses the otherworldliness
of the moon. In the windup, Reynolds shows von Braun's plan and illustrations
for scaling up Apollo into a space station, moon bases, and expeditions
to Mars. Instead, following the Skylab interlude, Apollo was
turned over to scrap dealers and museum curators. Reynolds' work will attract
throngs of readers. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library
Association. All rights reserved.
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