Excellent history of the US space program

This book tells the history of the US space program from the perspective of one of the people who made it possible. Most notably the author, Eugene Krantz, was flight controller for the Apollo 11 moon landing and was instrumental in saving the lives of the Apollo 13 crew.

He worked on the ground from the days of the early Mercury program and this book covers the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions in great detail

The book is told with great narrative flair and you can feel the emotion of the moments, from the tragedy of the Apollo 1 fire to the triumph of the successful moon landing. It really brings the space program alive.

I was privileged to visit Kennedy Space Center within a few days of finishing this book and it really enhanced that experience as I felt I really KNEW what it was like to be part of the space program.

Anyone with an interest in the history of NASA and the US manned space program should read this book.