Rockets and Missiles: The Life Story of a Technology ( Greenwood Technographies Series) Book

Wow. $50 for this little beauty.
The first chapter is a nice, but very brief (and consequently spotty), review of the history of rocketry, followed by a pretty good discussion of the physics or rocket flight. Gives the impression that this is going to be a pretty advanced text.
The next three chapters are so flawed as to be almost indigestible, featuring numerous erroneous statements and figures, as well as references to popular fiction as examples of technological innovation. The author displays a poor understanding of the current state of chemical propulsion and rocket technology.
The fifth and sixth chapters concern electric and micro-propulsion, and are handled rather well.
Chapter seven is a look at propellantless propulsion, not so much "advanced" as "speculative."
Chapter eight concerns "Breakthrough Propulsion." I was particularly intrigued (flabbergasted) by the implication that if we just wait a few years, limitations placed on space travel (mass and speed) by the Theory of Relativity will probably vanish.
Three short chapters of reasonably good content. Five short chapters of questionable merit. A pretty nice Further Reading section. $50. Wow.