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Rating: 
Summary: Great Variation on Well Covered Area
Review: 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.
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Summary: Long Overdue
Review: As an astronaut from 1963 to 1971, I was at NASA during the incredible years when mankind went from making short flights in Earth orbit to standing on the surface of the moon. Unfortunately, in those years, we also lost a good number of my astronaut colleagues along the way. This personally affected me most when, as part of the backup crew for Apollo 1, we had to step into their shoes and fly the first manned Apollo flight after their untimely and tragic deaths. The death of Gus Grissom's crew helped make it possible to land a man on the moon on schedule - indeed, it may have saved America's space program - so we cannot consider their deaths to have been in vain. It certainly made our Apollo 7 mission a success. It also reminded the American public that people could and would die in our efforts to explore the heavens. If you have been a jet fighter pilot for any length of time, you have seen your friends get killed - often - and you build up a certain immunity. I flew with such men and knew them well - men frozen in time now like shadows in old group photos. After several flights with Ted Freeman, I was convinced he was one of our better pilots. C.C. Williams, a big, strapping six-footer who wouldn't let you dislike him, had flying skills that couldn't be faulted. What impressed me most about Charlie Bassett was his discipline, dedication, and fine mechanical skills. I once played a great practical joke on Ed Givens. Elliot See was another friend of mine. My children were playmates with their children, and they noticed that some of Daddy's friends sometimes didn't come home from work. This book brings these old colleagues and friends of mine back to life, and it is wonderful to see them finally get the attention they deserve in print. I highly recommend this book for a long overdue insight into my old friends and colleagues, who paid the ultimate price for us all.
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Summary: I had tears in my eyes...
Review: Burgess and Doolan have written a book that was long overdue. Instead of the usual rehash of facts well known, they have brought to the public the story of these heroes as human beings, people with hopes and dreams, men who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country - whether in a plane or automobile crash or in a horrible spacecraft fire. As director of the Apollo One Memorial Foundation, I was particularly pleased with the way they presented the lives of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. However, I knew little of the other astronauts who died. The authors filled this gap in my knowledge in a clear, fact-filled way. Most impressive was the objective way in which they described the loss of the astronauts and cosmonauts, neither laying blame nor sensationalizing the accidents. This book is a must-read.
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Summary: Author's Response to Book Query
Review: 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.
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Summary: Author's Response to Book Query
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Poignant, Moving, Absorbingly Informative.
Review: 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.
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Summary: Great Variation on Well Covered Area
Review: 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.
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