Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War - Jeff Shesol

Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War

By Jeff Shesol

  • Release Date: 2021-06-01
  • Genre: U.S. History
4 Score: 4 (From 44 Ratings)

Book Synopsis

A riveting history of the epic orbital flight that put America back into the space race.

If the United States couldn’t catch up to the Soviets in space, how could it compete with them on Earth? That was the question facing John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War—a perilous time when the Soviet Union built the wall in Berlin, tested nuclear bombs more destructive than any in history, and beat the United States to every major milestone in space. The race to the heavens seemed a race for survival—and America was losing.

On February 20, 1962, when John Glenn blasted into orbit aboard Friendship 7, his mission was not only to circle the planet; it was to calm the fears of the free world and renew America’s sense of self-belief. Mercury Rising re-creates the tension and excitement of a flight that shifted the momentum of the space race and put the United States on the path to the moon. Drawing on new archival sources, personal interviews, and previously unpublished notes by Glenn himself, Mercury Rising reveals how the astronaut’s heroics lifted the nation’s hopes in what Kennedy called the "hour of maximum danger."

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Latest Impressions

  • AMERICAN HERO ASTRONAUT!

    5
    By HENRY A. KYLE III
    On February 20, 2022; America and the world will be commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the First American Astronaut to Orbit the Earth. One extraordinary man on-board the Mercury-Atlas 6, “FRIENDSHIP 7” spacecraft successfully completed his historic mission into space! COLONEL JOHN HERSCHEL GLENN JR., USMC (Ret.) as one of the “original” NASA Mercury Seven astronauts epitomizes the true meaning of Duty, Honor, and Commitment. His lifetime achievements and contributions to America’s Human Spaceflight Program is exquisitely detailed in this monumental masterpiece titled: “MERCURY RISING: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War”. A must read for all ages; which transports the reader to the early pioneering days of the 1960’s during the quintessential Space Race with the Soviet Union at the brink of the Cold War. Author Jeff Shesol has created a unique new expose on all the events; that set the stage for the culmination of the First Lunar Landing on the surface of the Moon in 1969. Join me in this epic journey called the Space Race and re-live the greatest moments of America’s quest for adventure into the unknown. President John F. Kennedy set the challenge and with the combined efforts of thousands of men and women; the ultimate goal was achieved. Task Accomplished…. WE DID IT!