Spaceship Handbook

Rating:
Summary: Loving treatment, diminished only by a few omissions
Review: A great mix of material drawn from TV, books, magazines, and the real machines, both amateur/hobbyist, and profssional. This is a work of love and it shows. If you have dreamt of rockets, flown them in any scale, or just enjoyed them in books or pictures, you'll have a good time leafing through this respectful, detailed volume. It's only flaw is that it fails to mention some obvious choices. But, it covers a few that rarely get mentioned elsewhere, so the end result is stellar.

Rating:
Summary: Loving treatment, diminished only by a few omissions
Review: A great mix of material drawn from TV, books, magazines, and the real machines, both amateur/hobbyist, and profssional. This is a work of love and it shows. If you have dreamt of rockets, flown them in any scale, or just enjoyed them in books or pictures, you'll have a good time leafing through this respectful, detailed volume. It's only flaw is that it fails to mention some obvious choices. But, it covers a few that rarely get mentioned elsewhere, so the end result is stellar.

Rating:
Summary: The best resource bar none!
Review: I admit I was suffering from sticker shock at the price on this book. Then I saw it in person at a show and had to have it. I put it on my wish list and my wife got it for me this Christmas. The heft and size alone is what first struck me. Then I opened it up. This book covers it all in depth. It looks and reads like a college text book. If it ever appeared in print or on film in the U.S., it's in there. Even obscure topics like the Silver Bird and the USAF MOL program are covered in full detail. The text is easy to follow and very in-depth. The diagrams are a scratch builder's dream come true. Even if you are not a modeler and just have a general interest in spacecraft (real or fictional), this is a valuable resource. I was struck by how each topic was covered in a very serious manner, even the fun topics like the Wallace and Grommit and even Josie and the Pussycats (yes that's in there as well) space ships! This is a wonderful book and I couldn't be more positive about it! A++++++ Mr Hagerty and Mr Rogers!

Rating:
Summary: The best resource bar none!
Review: I admit I was suffering from sticker shock at the price on this book. Then I saw it in person at a show and had to have it. I put it on my wish list and my wife got it for me this Christmas. The heft and size alone is what first struck me. Then I opened it up. This book covers it all in depth. It looks and reads like a college text book. If it ever appeared in print or on film in the U.S., it's in there. Even obscure topics like the Silver Bird and the USAF MOL program are covered in full detail. The text is easy to follow and very in-depth. The diagrams are a scratch builder's dream come true. Even if you are not a modeler and just have a general interest in spacecraft (real or fictional), this is a valuable resource. I was struck by how each topic was covered in a very serious manner, even the fun topics like the Wallace and Grommit and even Josie and the Pussycats (yes that's in there as well) space ships! This is a wonderful book and I couldn't be more positive about it! A++++++ Mr Hagerty and Mr Rogers!

Rating:
Summary: Massive review of imaginary and might-have-been spaceships
Review: I should state up front that I know the one of the authors. He's the president of my old model rocketry club. That said, I'll try to do a fair review.

To start: Add a star if you build model spaceships, static or flying!

The _Spaceship Handbook_ is a huge book. It's college-textbook sized, and densely packed with text and illustrations. The formatting and editing are spotty in parts, but the author includes a mail-in form where readers can list typos and errors. None of these problems detract at all from the usefulness and entertainment value of the book.

As the title suggests, this is a book about spaceships. Some are the pipedreams of early pioneers such as Hermann Oberth and Tsiolkovsy. Others are based on magazine articles, TV documentaries, and books of the "glory days" of the classic spaceship, the 1950s. A large and fascinating section explores the almost forgotten genre of 1950s television space operas, such as Captain Video and Rocky Jones. There are also ships from movies and comic strips, as well as "might have beens" (the Air Force MOL space station, the Dyna-Soar) that in some cases were months from being flown.

There are plenty of photographs, and lots of wonderfully rendered scale drawings. I found the authors' comments on how they overcame gaps and inconsistencies in the presentation of the ships interesting. (Hagerty used a micrometer to determine the width of the fins on Tin-Tin's moon rocket.)

The _Spaceship Handbook_ includes a fair amount of material about turning the spaceships described into flying models. It isn't intrusive, however, so SF fans and historians with no plans to build models won't feel cheated. Indeed, rocketeers looking for straightforward plans using standard parts won't find them here. However, the pictures of modeler's wonderful projects might inspire you to break out your drafting gear and wood lathe.

As a sort of bonus, The _Spaceship Handbook_ includes as an appendix a large essay by Jon Rogers on atomic-powered spaceships. It's actually a good general survey on interplanetary travel and rocket science. The pros and cons of various systems (ion drives, fission and fusion rockets, Orion drive) are descibed, although not in as much detail as I'd like. I think this appendix deserves to be fleshed out a bit and printed as its own book!

To sum up: There's plenty here for modellers, SF fans, space fans, and historians of the Space Age. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Indispensible for spaceship fans!
Review: It doesn't matter if you are a model-builder or not--I'm not--this book is indispensible for anyone even halfway interested in the spaceship as a cultural phenomenon--and I am. It covers the history of imaginative spacecraft from the early years of the 20th century up to the present, depicting spaceships from films, literature and even comic books. It is brilliantly and evocatively written, with hundreds of superbly reproduced illustrations--most of them in color. In fact, given the extraordinarily high quality of the book's production, I'm astonished it costs as little as it does--the publisher could easily have charge half again as much or more. A must-have for modelers, film fans, SF afficionadoes and aerospace buffs.

Rating:
Summary: Worth the money
Review: This is a remarkable book! If you are looking for details on real and fictitious spacecraft, this is the source you need. It somehow rivals with Ron Millers "Dream Machines" although it does not cover that extensive time horizon and has a different scope. Model builders will find useful information and drawings (although sometimes not very detailed) of many spacecraft. The appendix covers a nice review on spacecraft propulsion with good explanations of basic concepts, like the rocket formula.
Something to criticize? Well: The subtitle should read "POPULAR Rocket and Spacecraft Designs of the 20th Century", because the authors have focused their effort only on collecting material from English language sources. Don't expect to find much information on sci-fi products from abroad, unless they made their way into US media. Nevertheless, this book is worth every single Dollar it costs.

Rating:
Summary: Worth the money
Review: This is a remarkable book! If you are looking for details on real and fictitious spacecraft, this is the source you need. It somehow rivals with Ron Millers "Dream Machines" although it does not cover that extensive time horizon and has a different scope. Model builders will find useful information and drawings (although sometimes not very detailed) of many spacecraft. The appendix covers a nice review on spacecraft propulsion with good explanations of basic concepts, like the rocket formula.
Something to criticize? Well: The subtitle should read "POPULAR Rocket and Spacecraft Designs of the 20th Century", because the authors have focused their effort only on collecting material from English language sources. Don't expect to find much information on sci-fi products from abroad, unless they made their way into US media. Nevertheless, this book is worth every single Dollar it costs.