...the Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age
Walter A. McDougall
The space race started when America and Russia split the German rocket-scientist bounty at the end of World War II. It intensified and grew under the Cold War, and eventually subsided into mostly secret military activity as contradictions within both America and Russia sapped vitality from the race. This book covers the space race's 25 year run from the 50s to the 70s as a political entity in America under Eisenhower and Johnson and in Russia under Khrushchev.
Award History
1 wins · 2 total
| Award | Year | Result | Category / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pulitzer Prize in HistoryMajor | 1986 | Winner | Secondary source |
| National Book Award for NonfictionMajor | 1985 | Finalist | Secondary source |
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies
This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.
01 Central figures
None extracted with sufficient confidence.
These suggestions did not meet the normal display threshold and are more likely to be wrong.
- Eisenhower62%
- Johnson62%
- Khrushchev58%
02 Central places
None extracted with sufficient confidence.
03 Suggested argument
No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.
This suggestion did not meet the normal display threshold and is more likely to be wrong.
The space race began from post–World War II rocket-scientist arrangements, intensified under Cold War politics, and later declined as internal contradictions in America and Russia undermined the contest's vitality.
Model confidence 56%
04 Reading orientation
45 / 100 academicTrade / academic crossover
An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.
Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 66%.