- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Canada (APB) (Sep 16 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0141007249
- ISBN-13: 978-0141007243
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #181,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Amazon.ca
It's hard not to feel indignation reading Globe and Mail reporter Stephanie Nolen's detailed account of 13 fearless, extraordinary '60s-era women known as the Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees, or FLATs. That's saying something, considering the women's story, as Nolen tells it, is one of remarkable strength, perseverance, and accomplishment. But it's also one of institutionalized sexism, false hope, and, ultimately, dashed dreams. Promised the Moon begins with the earliest, pioneering female pilots, tolerated largely to reinforce the notion that flying--not yet a mass commercial industry--was so easy, even a woman could do it. By the late '50s, the space race between the Soviets and the Americans was on, and Nolen captures the era's giddy sense of urgency. As the infamous Mercury 7 are feted by the nation, Albuquerque doctor Randy Lovelace decides to see how women hold up against men in space testing and, it is implied, in space. If their testing--privately funded by wealthy, influential female pilot Jackie Cochran--is the guts of the story, then the experiment's abrupt end and its impact on the FLATs is Promised the Moon's heart. Given that women of the time needed their husband's signature to secure a loan, it's hardly shocking that NASA was reluctant to hand the reins over to 13 women without formal military training which, it is pointed out at length, they were legally denied access to anyway. But what is surprising is how quickly the FLATs unravelled at the very point--before a Congressional hearing into the matter--when unity was paramount. Backbiting and betrayal, especially between Cochran and FLAT chief Jerrie Cobb, characterize the rest of the story, and one gets the sense that even though the women could complete with men in areas of physical endurance, the psychological makeup of these women really wasn't the right stuff. It's a point Nolen makes, but too late, and her analysis is missing amid her detailed interviews with the surviving FLATs and her exhaustive translation of countless government records. That said, Nolen's story is an important historical record and perhaps the clearest telling yet of the 13 women who fought mightily for, but were denied, the chance to serve their country. --Kim Hughes
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
In one of those strange coincidences that often occur in publishing, this is the second book this summer (after Martha Ackmann's The Mercury 13) to relate the little known but remarkable story of the 13 women who trained in the early 1960s to be Mercury astronauts, and though a slightly less satisfying effort, this is still compelling reading. These women passed many of the same grueling tests taken by the male Mercury astronauts, but they were opposed by virtually everyone in power at NASA. In addition to bringing many of the 13 to life, Nolen, a foreign correspondent for Canada's Toronto Globe and Mail, does an excellent job of describing the social context in which they operated. She explains that although institutional sexism and a strong antifemale bias among most players at NASA certainly existed, American society at large was not yet ready to permit women to be placed in the roles for which these women were training. Even many women felt this way, and Nolen explains how Jackie Cochran, one of America's best-known female aviators, spoke forcefully against sending women into space. Cochran's motives, according to Nolen, were complex; she didn't want to antagonize powerful male friends, she didn't want other women to overshadow her achievements and she felt that women weren't physically capable of performing such activities. Although Nolen interviewed 11 of the original 13, her material isn't quite as personal as Ackmann's. Nonetheless, this is impossible to put down and deserves widespread attention. 30 b&w photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great History of Women Aviators,
By Verifier (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race (Paperback)
A very rewarding read! This book made me realize how much women accomplished as aviators from the early 1900s to the 1960s. It's an in-depth, accurate look at their struggles, jobs, and personal lives.
I'm very perplexed at one reviewer's negative comments and "misrepresentation" posted here (did they actually read the same book?), including the inference that Margaret A. Weitekamp's work pre-dates this book (it doesn't - it came out around the same time). In fact, Nolan's book doesn't make any claims that NASA was directly involved. It correctly describes the work of Dr. Lovelace and Jackie Cochran as independent from NASA, and repeatedly points out how, in the 1960s, newspapers and magazines like Life were enthralled with the idea of "female astronauts" and published stories about women like Jerrie Cobb. The book goes on to show how NASA responded at the time with a statement: "NASA says it never had a plan to put a woman in space, it doesn't have one today and it doesn't expect to have one in the forseeable future ... Any story that you may have read or heard to the effect that NASA is selecting and training girl astronauts just isn't true." Much of the book is actually about the women's backgrounds in aviation, which made me appreciate how much history I had missed out on.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well-written, fascinating story,
By Jackson Reed (BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race (Hardcover)
As a Canadian, for many years I have had the pleasure of following Ms Nolen's International journalism in the Globe and Mail, our country's national newspaper. In that same newspaper, I spotted a glowing review of "Promised the Moon" by Roberta Bondar, and it was then that I purchased the book and learned the little-known story of the Mercury 13.Ms Nolen has certainly done her research. She has tracked down the surviving members of the Mercury 13, and told their story in such a way that even a space "layperson" such as myslef can understand the details. A fascinating, well-written piece of non-fiction by an award-winning journalist. Highly recommended.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The new standard for telling this story.,
By Briana LeClaire "Wife, mom, free-thinker" (Boise, ID United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race (Hardcover)
Full disclosure: I am the daughter of Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen who was one of the FLATs (Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees) and so I am more than casually interested in this story. Plus I've met the author, so I'm going to be even less professional, and call her Stephanie!Every student of the US-Soviet Space Race should have this book. The FLATs have had their story of thirteen women who passed the 1960's astronaut tests (famously described and pictured in "The Right Stuff") told in several media, but Stephanie's is the most thorough job. Her book is liberally sprinkled through with transcripts, letters, interviews, and other primary sources. She presents all sides of the issues, and is exceptionally fair to those who can no longer speak for themselves, especially Jacqueline Cochrane. Stephanie does an excellent job drawing the reader into the late '50's and early '60's, painting what seems to be an accurate picture of that era. She lets the primary sources speak for themselves and generally comments just enough to keep the narrative going. For example: in my lifetime I have only known John Glenn as a somewhat liberal Democrat senator from Ohio, and part of the Keating Five. Stephanie ably describes how especially he was seen to be nearly a god during the Space Race. We've seen that before in books and movies, but Stephanie's book tells the story from these exceptional women pilots' perspective. In a nutshell: this is a darn interesting story, and Stephanie writes well and had a good editor. An easy, fascinating read.
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