American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race by Douglas Brinkley

Just months after being elected President of the Unites States, John F. Kennedy made an astonishing announcements to the nation: we would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. In this engrossing epic of contemporary history, Douglas Brinkley returns to the 1960s to re-create one of humankind’s most exciting and ambitious achievements. American Moonshot brings together the extraordinary political, cultural, and scientific factors that fueled the birth and development of NASA and the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo projects, which catapulted the United States to victory in the space race against the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

Featuring a cast of iconic and sometimes controversial figures, such as rocketeer Wernher von Braun, astronaut John Glenn, and space booster Lyndon Johnson, American Moonshot is a vivid, enthralling chronicle of one of the nation’s most thrilling, hopeful and turbulent eras. This is living history at its finest. It is also an homage to scientific ingenuity, engineering genius, human curiosity and the boundless American spirit.

Join us in reading this fresh look at the American space program, President John F. Kennedy’s inspiring challenge, and the race to the moon! Our book club will meet on April 2nd at 6:30 pm in the Carmel Public Library Reading Room for a book discussion.