The All-American Boys (Hardcover)

Ironically titled "The All-American Boys," the book lays bare what it was REALLY like to be an astronaut - the office politics, the way the pilot astronauts looked down on the scientist astronauts, the realities of the tough training... for the first time, the public understood the truth behind the public image. It also describes the incredible flight that Cunningham took on the first manned Apollo flight.

The book had been out of print for many years, but now it has not only been re-released, but also greatly expanded and revised to include space events since the 1970s - including the recent Columbia tragedy.

The book is one of only two by astronauts that provides a REAL insight into the space program (the other being Mike Collins's excellent "Carrying the Fire"). Cunningham was somewhat outside of the power loop in the astronaut office, which in fact gives him a great advantage when writing this book - he is under no restraints to tell the plain truth, without bitterness or grandstanding. He gives credit to his colleagues where credit is due, and holds no punches when a rebuke is deserved. Rather than playing it safe, he deals with issues such as why there were no women astronauts in the 1960s with sympathy but brutal honesty.

In all of these cases, he backs his opinion up with solid, hard facts. He admits his failings, is candid about his strengths - in short, he admits he was and is human, and this is a refreshing change from some other space books which attempt to gloss over the less glamorous moments.

In short, this isn't a kids' book, or a book describing the wonders of the universe. It is the one book that historians will turn to centuries from now when they want to know - what was it REALLY like to be an astronaut in the Apollo era?

I stongly suggest you read this book, and Mike Collins' book - and only then bother to read the others. This book provides vital context, and is written so well that it will have you unable to put it down until the end.

I really enjoyed what Cunningham had to say about the mind set of himself and his colleagues/competitors in the heady atmosphere of the astro corps in the 60`s. He pulls no punches nor makes any excuses for the well known philanderings of the group or their mutual competitiveness in taking almost any legitimate step to get ahead, and perhaps a few that weren`t too fair! He makes what many had always believed to be true quite plain about the advantage of knowing the bigshots, rather than being, as he was, a non-military member with few friends amongst the higher ups.

His comments regarding his own misssion (Apollo 7) make interesting reading. He plainly gives the impression that his mission commander,the Mercury/Gemini veteran Wally Schirra,was not too consumed by the detail of the flight + paints his fellow rookie Donn Eisele as somewhat of a follower on Schirra`s coattails. He goes to some lengths to distance himself from the rancour and friction for which the mission became famous following much publicised tensions and arguments between Schirra and Houston as the flight wore on and Schirra`s head cold got worse! He also reminds us that a long space flight with not too much to do other that wait to land can be rather boring. Like so much in most of the other Apollo missions, things went right rather than wrong, leaving crews to mind the shop, more often than not, except at mission-critical phases.

The most attractive aspect to the book is that is written with the clear intention of being a "warts and all" description of it`s subject matter, without becoming to sensational or derogatory of the others with whom he worked. Cunningham is able to reflect on his time with the benefit of hindsight and his other life experiences, and does not seek to paint himself as any kind of hero or superman.

In all, a very worthy read if space history is your thing, even if the book has no pictures, unlike most others of it`s genre.