Reviews for Korolev P

The average rating for Korolev P based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-05-08 00:00:00 Laurie Mecca If you don't know who Sergei Pavlovich Korlev was, you should. He was the mastermind behind the Soviet space effort, the man responsible for Sputnik. His efforts kept the Soviets ahead in the space race until his death in 1966. This would be remarkable enough on its own, but his story becomes still more remarkable when you realize that he survived being denounced and consigned to the Stalinist gulag, only to be rehabilitated and ultimately become integral to rocket and missile design efforts under Stalin and to subsequently head the space program. And he did all this in the utmost secrecy- his contributions to history were not publicly acknowledged until after his death. This book was an excellent look at Korolev, relying heavily on Soviet sources (not widely available at the time the book was written in the early 1990s), including both official accounts as well as interviews with those who knew him. If it suffers from a flaw, it is that the author is perhaps too eager to quote these sources in full and at length. Also, at times it is tricky to remember if one is reading an account of the Soviet space program, or a biography of the man running it- it is almost as if the author got caught up with the former only to realize shortly before Korolev's death that he must return to the latter, as the man's time was cut short.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-01-24 00:00:00 Brian Brodoski If you are not familiar with the space race between the U.S. and Soviet Union from 1946-1969, this book would bore you. If you have a degree of familiarity with the subject, this tome will fascinate you. Harford does a fabulous job in his depiction of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, the "Chief Designer" of the Soviet space program. He was able to interview several of the engineers and designers who worked under Korolev (who died in 1969), shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. By utilizing these rare oral histories from the actual participants, mixed with his review of archival documentation and his knowledge in rocketry, he weaves together a fact-based account of the life of one of the most important people in the history of the space race. If there is a detriment to the book it would be that his technical expertise comes in during discussions of rockets and rocket engines. Without prior knowledge of the intricacies of rocket dynamics, the information becomes meaningless to the reader. Having an extensive interest and curiosity into the space race, and with having read numerous volumes on the topic prior to picking this book up, I rate it five-stars.