Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight
Written by Jay Barbree
Narrated by Michael Prichard
4/5
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About this audiobook
Barbree writes about Neil's three passions-flight, family, and friends. This is the inside story of Neil Armstrong from the time he flew combat missions in the Korean War, to when he saved his Gemini 8 by flying the first emergency return from Earth orbit, to when he flew Apollo 11 to the moon's Sea of Tranquility. Through his friendship with Neil and his dedicated research, Barbree brings us the most accurate account of his friend's life, the book he and the famed astronaut planned together for twenty years.
Jay Barbree
<p>Jay Barbree, seen left reporting live from the launch of Gemini 6 in December 1965, has covered the space race since <em>Sputnik</em> as a correspondent for NBC. The NBC space unit won an Emmy for its coverage of the first <em>Apollo</em> moon landing. Barbree also broke the world news exclusive on the cause of the <em>Challenger</em> explosion. The coauthor of the <em>New York Times</em> bestseller <em>Moon Shot</em>, he lives near Cape Canaveral.</p>
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Reviews for Neil Armstrong
33 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An authorized biography of the first man to step onto the surface of the moon. Although he shied away from publicity, Neil Armstrong discussed his lifelong love of flying with his friend, NBC New Space Correspondent Jay Barbree. Writing about Neil’s three passions . . . flight, family, friends . . . the author spins a tale of flight from the days of Armstrong’s Korean War battle missions to the daring flights in the experimental X-15 rocket plane to the earth-orbiting Gemini space capsule to the magnificent desolation of the lunar surface. Pictures, many of which may be new to readers, are a perfect accompaniment to the story of the life of a man who, despite his reluctance to step into the spotlight, holds a singular place in the history of mankind.Highly recommended.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5To be honest, I didn't finish the book.
I was so excited to pick up this book and read about Neil Armstrong, a great man and hero to many. Written by a "close friend", I expected to get the know the man.
The writing style (language, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure) is not very good. This reads less like a biography and more like a tell all (with the author trying to convince us, or maybe even himself, that Neil was his BFF). - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5My second book on the life of this remarkable American hero. Jay Barbree does a formidable job here of capturing the drama and incredible courage these pioneers of our space program put forth to accomplish which stands to this day as our most dynamic achievement, putting man on the moon. The book is focused on Armstrong but as it was such a team effort we are reintroduced to the many co-heroes who did their part in equal measure to accomplish the goal. Armstrong because of his unique personality and focus, certainly an understated hero, gets the spotlight but we learn once again he never thought it was about himself. He was in fact the right man at the right time.The book covers basically the highlights of Armstrongs' career from Korean combat pilot, to test pilot, astronaut, and investigator of the later space shuttle tragedy. It is a remarkable journey to rediscover the amazing accomplishments of these men, the equipment, and support personnel. The ending winds down to a bit of lamenting on Barbree's part about how newer generations encountering Armstrong in passing were not even aware of who he was. But in line with Neil's character was it really of concern to him? Also attention is paid to our lapsing commitment to space exploration and simple technical progress. True we are far behind where we probably thought we would be in this era. But with the pressing problems her on earth it could only be expected, our financial resources do indeed have their limits.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book really should not be called a biography of Neil Armstrong since it was more of a book about the history of the space program with Neil Armstrong costarring with the other astronauts. I know a little more about Neil Armstrong after reading the book, but not a lot more. Don't get me wrong, that is all right. I enjoyed revisiting the history of the space program, it was just not what I bargained for when I picked up this book. One thumb up.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I have said it several times before I find anything aviation related to be intriguing. I someday do plan to finish up getting my pilot's license. Thus this is why for fans of aviation you should check this book out. Everyone is familiar with Neil Armstrong but do you know the "real" man in the suit? Sometimes when you read a book you just know that author or writer is the right person for the job and you could not picture anyone else telling the story with such justice. Well this was the case with this book. Because of Mr. Barbree's career and such good friendship with Mr. Armstrong, he had great knowledge to Mr. Armstrong that one a good friend would know. I did not feel like I was reading a book but more like I was in the room with Mr. Armstrong or chatting with Mr. Barbree. The extra bonus to me was all the old pictures. There were many. Which I thought were great. You know where you pick up a memoir and are looking forward to the pictures but there are only like 6 to 8 pictures and you are like "Where are all the pictures and I feel like I could see these pictures online anywhere". I did not feel like this at all. Again, if you want to learn more about who Mr. Armstrong is than you should pick up a copy of this book before it flies away.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I received an ARC of this book from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.While this book is advertised as a biography of Neil Armstrong, it's really more of an overall account of the Space Race and space travel with a focus on Neil Armstrong. Regardless, it was an amazing book. The fact that Jay Barbree was actually friends with Armstrong makes it even more interesting as he recounts his own personal experiences with him. Overall, this is a great read; it covers some of Armstrong's life, various expeditions into space, and touches slightly (very, very slightly) on the whole moon conspiracy theory. I really enjoyed the last chapter in which Barbree recounts Armstrong's push for further exploration of the Earth-Moon system.Since I have an ARC there were a few typos and grammatical errors, but nothing substantial that took away from the overall value of the book