Rating: 
Summary: More than a Great Beginning
Review: When I ordered this book I read some of the readers reviews and was very disappointed. Many who reviewed this book complained that it spent too much time and space on non-space related aspects such as the religous beliefs and practices of the astronauts, and other events that were going on in the world. They seemingly wanted to borrow Joe Friday's famous line, "Just the facts" please. Well pardon my criticism of their criticism, but it is just such non-facts if you will that makes the story engaging and this book compelling. Let's face it we all know the facts. We all know they went to the moon and got back safely. Here in addition to the general factual insights that are very well known and the tidbits that are new, the sidelines into the world and the astronauts and their families are experienced. Perspective of those involved or from those who observed the events are just as important as facts. Zimmerman effectively blends the known history in context with what was happening to the world and to the people involved in the entire program. It is a wonderful window into the vast universe of experiences relating to the entire Apollo program.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Zimmerman's book about the voyage of Apollo 8 was excellent. It is as good as the books written by Jim Lovell and Andrew Chaikin. The book is an easy read and flows very smoothly. It has an unusual style in that the book alternates between the "present" and personal recollections from the astronauts as they were growing up. It serves to put into context how the world had changed when they became of age. One learns of the boring and routineness of space travel (I didn't think about that aspect) and that some "personal" accidents do happen - like a release of defecant or vomit into the spacecraft; again, one never really thinks of these aspects. However, since we know that the highlight of the mission was the reading from Genesis, you get the feeling that the book is anti-climatic after this point. Nevertheless, it is an excellent book and I highly recommend it with Lovell's and Chaikin's book to get a well-rounded experience of the space program.
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