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The Wrong Stuff: How the Soviet Space Program Crashed and Burned Hardcover – June 4, 2024

by John Strausbaugh (Author)
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A witty, deeply researched history of the surprisingly ramshackle Soviet space program, and how its success was more spin than science.

In the wake of World War II, with America ascendant and the Soviet Union devastated by the conflict, the Space Race should have been over before it started. But the underdog Soviets scored a series of victories--starting with the 1957 launch of Sputnik and continuing in the years following--that seemed to achieve the impossible. It was proof, it seemed, that the USSR had manpower and collective will that went beyond America's material advantages. They had asserted themselves as a world power.

But in The Wrong Stuff, John Strausbaugh tells a different story. These achievements were amazing, yes, but they were also PR victories as much as scientific ones. The world saw a Potemkin spaceport; the internal facts were much sloppier, less impressive, more dysfunctional. The Soviet supply chain was a disaster, and many of its machines barely worked. The cosmonauts aboard its iconic launch of the Vostok 1 rocket had to go on a special diet, and take off their space suits, just to fit inside without causing a failure. Soviet scientists, under intense government pressure, had essentially made their rocket out of spit and band aids, and hurried to hide their work as soon as their worldwide demonstration was complete.

With a witty eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, John Strausbaugh takes us behind the Iron Curtain, and shows just how little there was to find there.
 
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  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    PublicAffairs
  4. Publication date
    June 4, 2024
  5. Dimensions
    6.35 x 0.94 x 9.6 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1541703340
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1541703346
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“[A] brisk, rip-roaring account of the Soviet side of the space race… Mr. Strausbaugh’s style is appealingly sardonic, amusing and a touch gonzo. The author has a sharp eye for the bizarre, which lends itself nicely to a story of remarkable dysfunction and remarkable achievement, told against a background where the darkness is not only that of space.”
 ―Wall Street Journal

“I love this book. This is a harrowing and hilarious account of a history that I will admit as a space geek I knew absolutely nothing about.”
 ―Shane Harris, Lawfare's Chatter podcast

“Strausbaugh tells this extraordinary tale in a chatty, familiar voice that adds to the ironies of historical Soviet extraterrestrial adventuring.”
 ―Booklist

“Strausbaugh’s droll sense of humor fits well with this examination of the Soviet space program… [He] clearly enjoyed writing this entertaining book, an accessible, engaging story about an era that, for better or worse, is nearly forgotten.”

―Kirkus

"Strausbaugh paints an amusing portrait of rockets and spacecrafts held together with little more than bubblegum and shoe strings — and tight-lipped publicity campaigns."―New York Post

“Highly entertaining… The Wrong Stuff is the right choice for readers fascinated by space and the human absurdities that propel us there.”
 ―Shelf Awareness

About the Author

John Strausbaugh is a well known author of history books. His titles include Victory City, City of Sedition, and The Village. A former editor of New York Press, he has written about history and culture for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Evergreen Review , the Wilson Quarterly, and other publications.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ PublicAffairs (June 4, 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1541703340
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1541703346
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.35 x 0.94 x 9.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

About the author

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John Strausbaugh

John Strausbaugh

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John Strausbaugh is a well known author of history books. His titles include Victory City, City of Sedition, and The Village. A former editor of New York Press, he has written about history and culture for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Evergreen Review , the Wilson Quarterly, and other publications.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
83 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

C. Michael Hiam
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Read
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2024
Verified Purchase
Strausbaugh has written a fast paced, witty, and highly informative history of the Soviet space program. That he already had a good grasp of Soviet history prior to writing the book is obvious and it keeps his narrative grounded within a larger social/political context. There are no boring stretches to his book and at 258 pages it is not a brief history but, thankfully, by no means a tome, While I recommend his book without reservation I do find it inexplicable that there are no photographs, particularly since both the Soviet and American space programs were meant to be as photogenic - for nationalist propaganda purposes - as scientific (Is it a wonder that both Gagarin and Armstrong were each good looking all-Russian/all-American dudes?) . Maybe too much to ask, but a map of the Soviet Union showing its space program sites would have been helpful, also a book of this quality should have been graced with an index. But besides my quibbles, a five-star read.
5 people found this helpful
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W_Parmantie
5.0 out of 5 stars Great History of the Soviet Space Program....
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2024
Verified Purchase
An entertaining and humorous history of the Soviet space program. An amazing insight into just how primitive Soviet technology really was. The military/industrial complex would look a whole lot different if this knowledge existed when Kennedy was talking 'Missile Gap'.
One person found this helpful
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F Bronner
4.0 out of 5 stars Over a cocktail
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2024
Verified Purchase
Casual read of Soviet tales and bureaucracy of Space planning and sometimes ineptitude.
Know most of it already but some nice embellishments.
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Just
5.0 out of 5 stars One Small Step for Manned Space Flight; One Giant Leap for Soviet Status Seeking
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2024
Verified Purchase
This absorbing survey of Soviet manned space flight delivers one slap-happed disaster after another without becoming heavy-handed or silly. Any success the soviets had now seems miraculous.
Well researched, with ongoing comparisons to NASA, but no overt nods to the American Space Agency—which had its own troubles. Always enlightening, sometimes astonishing; The Wrong Stuff is a must-read for anyone interested in off-planet adventures and misadventures.
One person found this helpful
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john
3.0 out of 5 stars Decent accounting of Russia’s space program
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2024
Verified Purchase
A pretty detailed accounting of what was going on in the USSR as we were making our own mistakes in the USA. Writing is a little uneven, gets a little preachy, but all in all a good read and worth the buck.
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Chuck
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written, funny and fact-filled
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2024
Verified Purchase
I've never written a review after reading the first 21 pages, but I can't put this down, except to write this review. I've already ordered copies for two friends and will do so for more. Best book I'm reading in a long time!
One person found this helpful
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Bassetman
4.0 out of 5 stars The Wrong Stuff or why we should not be surprised that the Soviet Union collapsed.
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2024
Verified Purchase
A fast easy read about the incompetence of the Soviet space program. The sad part of the story is that many good pilots were needlessly killed in the process. If it weren’t for the U.S. posting data on line the Soviets wouldn’t have progressed at all. It wasn’t the science it was the politics that failed.
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