A review by futurama1979
Spaceflight: A Concise History by Michael J. Neufeld

3.0

I found this book really good at covering the foundational bases of understanding spaceflight as a cultural, military, and historical concept. I thought the structuring inhibited the flow of information rather than helped it, which I find with some technical nonfiction as it is being written by historians or scientists rather than writers by trade. Concepts were prevented half in and half outside of a timeline, and half the chapters were organised by periods of time while the other half were organised by subtopic (unrelated to positions in time). The editing in the organisation and structure could've been unified and really tightened the flow. The information is there, and good, but is presented in this basic yet nonconductive way that slows the reader down.

I loved the bits on pre-rocket spaceflight work and early science fiction, as well as the discussion and idea of alien life being a driving motivator in spaceflight advancement. I thought the tracing of rocket and space capacity development on both sides of the Cold War was clear and comprehensive, too. It was really quite engaging despite its editing/structure flaws.