Cold war space sleuths: the untold secrets of the Soviet space program

“Space Sleuths of the Cold War” relates for the first time the inside story of the amateur spies who monitored the Soviet space program during the Cold War. It is written by many of those “space sleuths” themselves and chronicles thekey moments in their discovery of hidden history. This book shows that dedicated observers were often better than professionals at interpreting that information coming out of the USSR during the dark days of the Cold War. This book takes a unique approach to the history of Soviet spaceflight – looking at the personal stories of some of the researchers as well as the space secrets the Soviets tried to keep hidden. The fascinating account often reads like a Cold War espionage novel.“Space Sleuths of the Cold War” includes an impressive list of contributors, such as: Editor Dominic Phelan, giving an overall history of the Cold War huntfor Soviet space secrets. Space writer Brian Harvey reveals his own personal search through official Soviet radio and magazines to find out what they were (and weren’t) revealing to the outside world at the height of the space race. Robert Christy gives a firsthand account of the famed Kettering Group. Sven Grahn from Sweden details his own 40 year quest to understand what was happeningon the other side of the Iron Curtain. Professional American historian Asif Siddiqi explores his own adventures in the once secret Russian archives – oftenseeing documents never before read by Westerners. Dutch cosmonaut researcher Bert Vis provides an inside account of the Yuri Gagarin training center in Moscow. Belgian researcher Bart Hendrickx’s details his important translation ofthe 1960s’ diaries of cosmonaut team leader General Kamanin. Pioneer space sleuth James Oberg’s shares his memories of his own notable ‘scoops.' Paris-based writer Christian Lardier recounts the efforts of French space sleuths – whose work was frequently overlooked in the USA and Britain because of the language barrier. Dominic Phelan has contributed to several spaceflight history books, including an 11,000 word chapter on the 1960s Moon race for “Footprints in the Dust” (University of Nebraska Press, 2010) and a chapter on Russian space medicinefor “Space Exploration 2008” (Springer, 2008). His articles have appeared in“Astronomy Now” and the British Interplanetary Society’s publication “Spaceflight.” Dominic has lectured at the society’s respected annual Soviet forum. Hehas been published in “The Irish Times,” “The Irish Independent,” and “History Ireland.” INDICE: Chapter 1: Space Sleuths and their Soviet ‘Scoops’ (Dominic Phelan).- Chapter 2: Spaceflight as Reported by the Official Soviet Media (Brian Harvey).- Chapter 3: The History of the Kettering Group (Robert Christy).- Chapter 4: The View from Beside the Iron Curtain (Sven Grahn).- Chapter 5: Looking Inside the Russian Archives (Asif Siddiqi).- Chapter 6: Adventures in Star City(Bert Vis).- Chapter 7: Russian Language Space Secrets (Bart Hendrickx).- Chapter 8: Missing Cosmonauts (James Oberg).- Chapter 9: The View from Paris (Christian Lardier).- Chapter 10: The View from Behind the Iron Curtain (Anatoly Zak).- Chapter 11: Urban Cosmonauts and Space Historians (David Shayler).- Index.

• ISBN: 978-1-4614-3051-3
• Editorial: Springer
• Encuadernacion: Rústica
• Fecha Publicación: 28/07/2013
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés