Author: James Harford
An excellent book covering the life and technical achievements of Hero of The Soviet State, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. For years his name was unknown to the West, and referred to in the soviet press as simply “Chief Designer”.
As a young engineering experimenting in rocketry, Korolev was denounced by his colleagues and banished to the Siberian gulags. His health suffered terribly and impacted him severely in later life.
However, following the Soviet capture of German V2 rocket technology post WWII, Korolev was recalled to Moscow and the rest was history. First man-made satellite in space. First manned vehicle to orbit the Earth. And very nearly the first manned landing on the Moon.
An amazing life and a biography well worth reading.