Rating: 
Summary: No cited sources, written by a journalist?
Review: As a historian of the space race I have read a good deal about the space program. This book is nowhere on my top list of choices. The text of the book contains no citations to sources, you are supposedly directed to the 18 page bibliography to determine where the author got his information. With some of the questionable things stated in this book, I would like to read the appropriate source, or at least know if it came from a book, magazine, or dinner side chat with an uncle. If you know nothing of the early days of the space program, this book does an adequate job of filling you in. However, if you know anything about this period you will find little of interest. The author is, after all, not a space historian, nor did he have an active part in the space age. The author is described in the book jacket as an investigative reporter. I would not recommend this book for someone seriously interested in the history of the space program, US or Soviet. This book contains surprisingly little about Sputnik.
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Summary: A good topic but questionable facts
Review: As a longtime space buff, I looked forward to reading this book about an event that happened before I was born. I found two factual errors that unfortunately left me questioning the authenticity of other facts in the book. On page 41, the book reads "In 1968, as Apollo 11 lifted off for the Moon..." and on page 236 it states "When the space shuttle was first launched in 1982..." These events, of course, happened in 1969 and 1981, and rank among the most important space events ever (along with Sputnik's launch, certainly). How these two dates could be incorrect makes me just a little skeptical that other things I read in the book might just be a little off as well. What if a book on early US history listed Jefferson as the 4th President? I really wanted to like this book, and altough it tended to be a little dry at times, I found many interesting stories and details, but two blatant factual inaccuracies that made it past however many people they made it past before the book's printing left me a little wary of the rest of the content. I don't want to malign the entirety of the author's work for what might be no more than typos, but I just could not get past those two.
Rating: 
Summary: Capturing the Essence of an Era
Review: Greetings: I would like to congratulate Paul Dickson on an outstanding presentation of one of the most complex and exciting events in world history. His research is meticulous but the following corrections should be consideration in subsequent printings: 1. Page 106 describes the R-7: "...the ground shook as no fewer than thirty-two rocket boosters thundered with 200,000 pounds of thrust.
The R-7 actually has 4 engines in each of five "packets" for a total of 20 primary engines thrusting at launch. The other 12 engines were relatively low thrust "verniers" responsible for pitch, roll, and final velocity control. Each of the primary thrust chambers provided 56,000 pounds of thrust for a total of 1,120,000 pounds. 2. Page 106 states: "The three stage rocket..." The R-7 configuration for the first three Sputniks was essentially a 1 ½ stage rocket. All engines ignited at liftoff. When the four outer packets depleted their fuel, they were released leaving the central core to continue thrusting to orbital speed. There were no upper stages at this point. 3. Page 107 states: "Ninety-six minutes and seventeen seconds later, Sputnik passed over its launchpad with its transmitter sending out a beeping noise that blared from Baikonur's loudspeakers." Because of the earth's rotation, the launch site moves east several hundred miles (about 1000 miles per hour at the equator diminishing proportionally at the higher latitudes.) so subsequent orbital passes are offset. Sputnik could not have over flown its launch site at the end of its first orbit. 4. Page 181 states: "On March 23... the 30.66 pound Explorer III went aloft...". The correct date is March 26. 5. Page 199 states: "That night the four-ton Air Force Atlas ICBM was fired into orbit from Cape Canaveral, making it by far the largest object yet to circle the globe. This is a common misconception that was promoted by the US at the time. As noted in my Item 2, the entire core stage of the R-7 actually entered orbit for the first three Sputniks. The soviets never identified the weight of this unit because they did not want to give any indication of the R-7 configuration. This stage was about 90 feet in length and weighed in excess of 12,000 pounds. 6. Page 247 states: "... those working with the launch vehicle were ordered to make sure that the third stage was a dummy". Jupiter-C was designed as a four stage rocket. Thus it was the fourth stage that was inert. The first three stages were fired for the nose cone tests.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip this book
Review: I lived this and the outcome. This book didn't come close to explaining what happened. 2 menny mistaks!
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Summary: The Shock Is Still With Us
Review: If you want an understanding of how the United States endede up as the 800-pound gorilla for the rest of the world, you should begin with Paul Dickson's meticulously researched and cleanly written account of how we were jump started into supremacy in the space race more than forty years ago. Just ignore the ... and get this book; it should be a civics textbook that is required reading. Dickson's tale should be a PBS documentary, but don't wait till then.
Lula Srodes Washington DC
Rating: 
Summary: Technological marvel? World changing event? Both?
Review: Paul Dickson argues in his book "Sputnik: The shock of the Century" that this little 184 pound satellite launched by the Soviets in October 1957 changed the world. He says that it changed the way Americans thought, and that it paved the way for our own space program.
I agree that it was a shocking event and quite a blow to the pride of the United States - to see the Soviets launch an artificial Earth orbiting satellite before we could do it? Unheard of! I don't think that it changed the world quite as much as Dickson claims, however.
At the close of his book, Dickson says that the two most important marvels of the 20th century were Sputnik and the Internet. Certainly leaves a lot of room for discussion, doesn't it?
I believe that Dickson has done us quite a service by writing this book - it is a great history both of the space race up to, and including, an introduction to both the Apollo and Gemini missions of the 1960's, as well as the social history that acompanied this massive PR coup by the Soviets.
I especially enjoyed the way that Dickson explained how much America focused on education (science, math, and the like) after the Soviets beat us into space. I also tremendously enjoyed the role of Werner Von Braun in our own efforts to launch a satellite. However, I think that this book easily could have been much, much larger in order to adequately cover the primary topic - Sputnik and all of the ramifications of that fateful day in October.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Contribution to Space History
Review: Paul Dickson has done a good job of telling a great story - the events leading up to and following the launch of Sputnik 1. He has done the most thorough job of research on this topic of any author to date, and is especially good at sprinking anecdotes which illustrate the political and personal aspects of the race into space and the aftermath of the Soviet victory.
There are some mistakes in the book. Dickson's statement that Sputnik carried only a transmitter and no instrumentation is an error (as he has acknowledged and intends to correct). The author never does prove his claim from the Introduction that President Eisenhower "welcomed the launch." He does explain well how and why the President, focused on keeping space open for future reconnaissance satellites, was not nearly so upset by Sputnik as most DC politicos were. Dickson also doesn't explain clearly that those who "saw Sputnik" actually saw the booster rocket - the satellite was invisible to the naked eye. Finally, the book has a bit of a padded feel, with asides on everything from The Femininine Mystique to the the creation of the Internet. Some of these are only vaguely related to Sputnik.
The general reader won't be put off by the dearth of footnotes, espcially since the chapter notes and bibliography are good. As a fellow space history enthusiast, I would have liked more specific sources for some statements and anecdotes.
The bottom line, though, is that this is a valuable addition to space history.
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Summary: A must for President Bush and his advisers
Review: Paul Dickson's "Sputnik" should definitely be read by President Bush, his advisers and staff. The book reveals how President Eisenhower remained calm and determined as America in 1957 came close to panic over "The Shock of the Century" -- the Soviet Union's launch of the world's first satellite. The crises that America faces today make the book remarkable timely. Dickson tells the exciting story of how Eisenhower steadfastly stood up to powerful domestic forces: hot-headed politicians, panic-stricken pundits, trigger-fingered military and "Strangelove" missile-men - all led by Nazi hero Wernher von Braun - who would have surely used their beloved V-2 rockets to move the world toward a buzz-bomb Armageddon. Instead, Eisenhower quietly and resolutely directed levelheaded scientists and trusted military in America's achieving undisputed space leadership. Dickson's "Sputnik" is an excellent guide for Washington - and all Americans -- today.
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Summary: Everything but Sputnik
Review: The author has spent many years searching for any reference no matter how small involving Sputnik. He links words like beatnik, vietnik, and refusenik to the influence of Sputnik. He even uncovers several songs and musicial groups that relate to the satellite. I loved the link to Machinegun Kelly's wife, very inventive. I felt that it was more a biography of the Nazi von Braun than of Eisenhower, the author wonderfully links von Braun to JFK. Just amazing how the littlest action connects.
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Summary: Extremely interesting
Review: This isn't really a book about Sputnik at all. Initially it's a history of rocketry and then it turns into a book about and American science and culture in the 50s and onwards. Sputnik was a catalyst to many changes in that decade and hence the title. But not all that much is said about Sputnik itself. Some interesting points are made along the way: although the US suffered a crisis of confidence in the 50s due to Sputnik Eisenhower *wanted* the USSR to successfully launch a vehicle into space first so that they set the legal precedent of the acceptability of flying spy satellites over enemy territory. In a sense the Internet grew directly out of the US response to Sputnik because ARPA (and thence DARPA and its embryonic network) was part of a programme to ensure that US R&D was better than the Soviets' Fascinating stuff.
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