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Summary: Great insight into the space race
Review: The Last Man on the Moon is a great book that offers a great depiction of his three flights: Gemini 9 in 1965 with Tom Stafford, Apollo 10 in 1969 with Tom Stafford and John Young, and Apollo 17 in 1972 with Harrison Schmitt and Ron Evans. His narrative of the Gemini 9 mission is gripping, and it is one of the closest calls in the history of spaceflight. In May 1969 he traveled to lunar orbit and took the lunar module Snoopy down to within a few miles of the lunar surface in the final dress rehersal for the Apollo 11 moon landing. Finally, Cernan and Schmitt became the last men to walk on the moon to this date with the Apollo 17 flight in December 1972. Cernan is candid in his description of his flights and other historical missions such as Apollo 11 and Apollo 13, and offers some new information about the famous flights. He stays away from technical data, and devotes his time to telling a throughly ingrossing account of his three flights and the space race in general, with the feel of a story recalled among friends. Some of the reviewers here have said that Cernan does not spend a lot of time describing his moon landing, Apollo 17. Well, Cernan tells about the crew selection, training, the voyage outbound to the moon, and the three excursions to the Valley of Taurus-Littrow in the last few chapters. If you want to get more information regarding the scientific data obtained from Apollo 17, you should read "Exploring the Moon" or "To a Rocky Moon." And in the last chapter, Cernan devotes a lot of time to sentimental feelings about our future destiny in space and inspiring young people in this country to take up the challenge. Cernan has always attempted to unite the passion of future space explorers. When stepping off the lunar surface on Apollo 17, he said this, "As I step off the Moon and Taurus-Littrow, I'd just like to say what I believe history will record, that America's challenge of today will forge man's desiny for tommorow. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17." With that, he returned to the lunar module Challenger with his crewmate, professional geologist Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, and blasted off from Taurus-Littrow. And we haven't returned to the moon since.
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Summary: Are you into space travel?....READ THIS BOOK!
Review: Gene Cernan captures your attention in this well-written look at everything from the U.S. vs. Soviets race to the moon to the daily grind of an american astronaut. From humerous stories about the space race days to tragedies like Apollo 1, this book covers all aspects of U.S. space travel from beginning to Gene Cernan himself being the last human to walk on the moon. This book is a MUST for any space enthusiast and highly recommended to anyone interested in learning about this exciting time in American history. Also recommend: Leap of Faith (G. Cooper)
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Summary: Better than Sci-fi - Read the real thing
Review: I couldn't put it down.
This is an action-packed book, that brings you right into the cockpit of several of our space capsules and outside of them during an EVA.
He speaks about his carreer before the space program, how he got into it, and then how life is changed forever.
In his matter-of-fact style, Cernan speaks about several of our space-heroes and how he views and interacts with them.
Cernan describes the lunar landscape, his thoughts and feelings while he was there... makes you see it through his eyes.
If you like action, aviation, flying, space, this will be one of your favourite books ever.
Rating: 
Summary: Charming page-turner with philosophical undertones
Review: Selected with the third group of American astronauts in 1963, Eugene Cernan "walked" in space as the pilot of Gemini 9, went around the Moon on Apollo 10, then returned there as the Commander of Apollo 17, the last lunar landing mission. A successful and interesting career even for astronaut standards. His autobiography, "The Last Man on the Moon", offers a personal account of those glory days of space exploration.Throughout the book, Cernan portrays himself as a competitive workaholic, and it shows: there are a few introductory chapters on Gene's childhood and career as a naval aviator, and a brief afterthought on life after NASA, but the bulk of "Last Man" is about the space program, the space program, and the space program. Training and mission planning, the mechanics of crew selection, descriptions of his colleagues and anecdotes about their extracurricular activities, it's all there. The flights themselves are recounted in vivid detail, including a nauseatingly dangerous EVA on Gemini 9 and geology trips through the lunar valley of Taurus-Littrow. Overall, as Cernan later reflects, it feels "as if I was getting off one fast-moving express train only to immediately board another", and describes well the hectic and busy pace of the Moon race. Underlying it all, and well in evidence, is the aggressive "right stuff" attitude usually found with this elite of pilots. It's easy to mistake Gene's self-confidence for arrogance, but he also displays plenty of humour and self-ironic jabs. Cernan was one of the more personable and gregarious astronauts, who clearly enjoyed the social perks that came with the job, and it's this mixture of cocky determination and laid-back charm that make his autobiography a gripping read. Indeed, "Last Man" is a page-turner in the real sense of the word. Particularly enlightening is the episode that saw Geno decline a LM pilot seat on Apollo 16, a gamble that paid off and in the end brought him command of his own mission. So is his relationship with geologist-astronaut Jack Schmitt, whom Cernan only grudgingly accepted on his crew. After some initial macho reservations against the "pebble-pusher", he learned to respect Schmitt as a tireless worker and supremely gifted individual who helped make Apollo 17 the most well rounded team of all. In between, with the lunar module on Apollo 10 spinning out of control for a moment, or a helicopter crash in training, there are enough close calls for several lifetimes. The human qualities of the book show when Gene talks about his wife, Barbara, and the ordeals she had to go through, with an often absent husband in a dangerous job, while always displaying the brave "Mrs. Astronaut" to the public world. Ultimately, this ordeal led to the disintegration of Cernan's first marriage, and he speaks with a heightened sense of value about his family of today and his grandchildren. Such a sense of deep appreciation and philosophical reflection also shines through when Gene recounts his awe as one of only twelve humans to ever set foot on the Moon, "looking up at the cobalt Earth immersed in infinite blackness", and how the unique experience might have changed him. These are moments that he clearly treasures deeply, that left him with a restless yearning forever after. Cernan seems sad, not selfish, thinking that the accomplishments of the ten years of Apollo would probably take twice as long today, in a much more cautious and conservative age of spacefaring. And he expresses a sense of guilt at feeling unable to truly share what he saw in space with the rest of the world. Geno needn't have worried there, for "The Last Man on the Moon" is a fabulous book. Well-written and informative, it leaves little to be desired. Perhaps, given the awe-inspiring nature of the subject, some chapters fly by just a tad too quickly, and one could have wished for a little more detail here, or a little deeper thought there. Overall, though, there are few better astronaut biographies. The page-turner qualities, Cernan's unique perspective (here is one of the three guys who went to the Moon twice!) and a subtle, but strong sense of philosophical reflection make for a very worthwhile read, not only for space enthusiasts.
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Summary: What a book!
Review: this was a great book. geno cernan is a great guy( i have met him) and he wrote an interesting delightful book. i know more about the inner workings of Nasa and the rest of the space program. THIS WAS AN AMAZING BOOK!...
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Summary: On of the Very Best
Review: Gene Cernan`s book an near perfect writing about those legendary first days of manned space exploration. For such Apollo maniacs, as me, essential reading. You can know from it, how become an youngster to an naval aviator, then an naval aviator to an astronaut and at last an astronaut to an moonwalkwer. It`s funny to see things through an insider`s glasses. Furthermore styles of Gene Cernan and Don Davis brilliantly complete each other, and the final result is an vibrant, from beginning to end gripping story. Maybe the only one imperfection in the book is those lot of "damn" and "sonofabitch"
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Summary: WOW
Review: An amazing account of an astronauts life. This book is written by a true writer not just a space junkie. He really brings his stories alive in a gripping, exciting, humorous book.
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Summary: The Last Launch
Review: "Last Man on The Moon" by Eugene Cernan is the cloest and accurate portrayal of the last mission to the moon, Apollo 17. It brings you so close you feel as if you are in the cockpit sitting atop the Saturn V rocket. I would defenately recommend this book to read, it provides knowledgeable insight into NASA and the Apollo program. It is enjoyable reading, that will leave you wanting more!
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Summary: Cernan has issues
Review: This book is pretty bad. It's title would lead you to believe that the Apollo 17 mission would get a thorough treatment, but it is treated almost as an afterthought. I think it's very telling about Cernan's personality that he spends so much time on personal attacks on his fellow astronauts, none of whom, as far as I know, managed to demonstrate their piloting prowess by crashing a helicopter into the water while hot dogging! Nearly 30 years after the fact, he feels the need to badmouth Apollo 17 crewmember Dr. Harrison Schmitt at every opportunity during the small portion of the book that actually covers the mission. Dr. Schmitt got to be an apollo astronaut because of his background as a geologist, and was not a member of the throttle-jockey fraternity. But along the way, Dr. Schmitt got flight training and became a good pilot himself, and this fact obviously eats at Cernan.
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Summary: I'm a space cadet!
Review: As a diehard Apollo fan, I will read anything on the subject and enjoy it; however, I realise that some books' technical information would maybe make it a boring read for someone only faintly curious. NOT THIS BOOK! I would recommend this to anyone who wished to know more about Apollo. Cernan tells the story in a rivetting and enlightening way, yet thoroughly entertaining too.
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