Space by James A. Michener
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I haven't read a Michener book for a long time, and then again, I've not really read many Michener books at all; I think the last one was Caravans. But, after reading Space, I'm ready to read more Michener. His books--often historical fiction--are of epic proportions, and are well-researched. I loved how Space combined historical characters & events--and facts about space & NASA & the Apollo Moon Program, etc.--with fictional characters, and intertwined them, making a very believable story. Space sets the historical context for the US space program by first following historical & fictional characters in WWII. Rocket scientists & engineers who designed the dreaded V2 rockets and had even bigger aspirations to make intercontinental rockets; also military characters who fought in the Battle of Leyte Bay in the Philippines, against all odds with the Japanese Navy.

Interestingly, this book was first published the year I was married, and this paperback copy is a book we've been carrying around with us since around its 6th printing in 1985--before we headed off to NW China in 1987. Wow--been hauling this around for a long, long time--and now it's finally been read and greatly enjoyed!


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