"[ Mercury Rising] brings Glenns story alive again with both nostalgia and a riveting, fast-paced narrative ... Shesol does an excellent job of embedding Glenn's story into the wider Cold War context." -- Douglas Brinkley - Washington Post "The perfect book for anyone who wants to read about real life adventures and learn what makes heroes tick ... It will help you understand how some families stay together in the face of existential challenges, how American politics and industrial technology converge, and how the United States won the Cold War competition with the USSR." -- Walter Clemens - New York Journal of Books "What a fresh and refreshing look at a familiar subject, now seen through an important geo-political lens rather than a scientific, technological, and nationalistic one. The new context is exciting, the usual characters made more vivid and dimensional. Bravo." -- Ken Burns "I loved this book. From the opening lines, I was rivetedI couldnt put it down. Even though we know the ending, Jeff Shesol somehow creates a cliffhangerimmersive history that lifts us out of the moment were in and transports us to a time of genuine heroes. As this book reveals, John Glennstoic and selfless, but also restless and ambitiousembodies what we hold most dear about being American." -- Matt Damon "If theres such a thing as a white-knuckle read, this is it. But Mercury Rising is a twofer. Jeff Shesol interweaves heart-racing renderings of the dread and adrenaline of the earliest space flights with keen analysis of the geopolitical rivalry that drove the arc and pace of the space race. John Glenn emerges as both homespun hero and Cold War cats-paw, as well as a flesh-and-blood human beingand one hell of a pilot." -- David M. Kennedy, professor of history emeritus, Stanford University, winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for History "This is a story for the agesthe best account, ever, of the flight of Friendship 7. Shesol presents the Mercury Seven and their storied competition in a fresh and even provoking new light. Brilliantly researched and written, Mercury Rising is the book to read on the Cold War collaboration between John Kennedy and John Glenn." -- Kris Stoever, author, with her father, Scott Carpenter, of For Spacious Skies: The Uncommon Journey of an Astronaut "I had the privilege of knowing John Glenn wellI helped select him and train him as an astronautand Jeff Shesol has rendered the most compelling portrait Ive seen of Glenn since the real thing. This gripping book captures the fast pace and high stakes of the space program and shows how Glenn helped win the struggle to surpass the Russians." -- Robert Voas, astronaut training officer, Project Mercury "This book amazed me. It brought back such memories that I felt like I was reliving the events." -- Jerry Roberts, guidance and control systems engineer, Projects Mercury and Gemini "Entertaining and deeply researchedreaders will savor the hair-raising ride." -- Publishers Weekly "A welcome retelling of a significant piece of the Cold War saga and the opening of the space frontier [ and] a good choice for readers interested in the Cold War, the space race, and the 1960s American political landscape." -- Kirkus Reviews "This well-researched and exciting read is recommended for those interested in the history of the space race or the Cold War." -- Dave Pugl - Library Journal "Shesol chronicles the early days of the space program with a historians attention to detail and a novelists flair for interesting storytelling." -- Gary Day - Booklist
