Holiday Gift Guide: Apollo: Through the Eyes of the Astronauts

When we think of space travel, people of my generation think of the Apollo missions. Starting in 1969, when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, we reached beyond our own planet to look deeper into the world beyond home. This book comes at that idea from a new vantage point, that of the astronauts themselves. In essays and stunning photographs, Apollo: Through the Eyes of the Astronauts (Abrams), lets us experience those missions from the inside, getting to know what Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Alan Bean, and the other astronauts were thinking and doing at that time in our common history. Each has chosen a favorite photograph, as well, one that crystalizes their own experience.

Apollo: Through the Eyes of the Astronauts is an eye-popping book that brings tangible glory to a time that seems almost quaint and ancient now. The grandeur of those missions, the seat-of-your-pants wishful thinking they embodied, and the venturing into truly unknown territory all make NASA’s troubles of recent years seem almost -- but only almost -- beside the point.