Failure Is Not an Option by Gene Kranz (2000, Hardcover, Illustrated)

This is a great book for people interested in NASA, or want to work for NASA. My wife works for NASA and thought this would be a good read. She was not disappointed.

This is a great book about a great time in American History. From front to back it is very entertaining!

I picked up this book at the library and decided to buy it because it is a historical narrative of one of the best flight directors of NASA during it's early years. One will remember Kranz from the movie "Apollo 13." The book is narrated by Kranz and highlights his missions during the pre- Mercury days, the Mercury era, the Gemini Era, Apollo, and up to his retirement. It's a great historical reference to what actually happened during the early days of NASA, when NASA was at it's peak, highlighting the highs and lows of the program. What gives it that added "touch" of narrative is that it is written by an internal character to the program and took all the decisions first hand. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who is into the dawn of space discovery.

The mid-20th Century was a time of great upheaval and technological advancement. In the decades following World War II, the Cold War dominated global events. The "Space Race" took center stage. Adventurous and courageous men and woman aspired to "push the limit" to discover new technology and take science to new heights. One of these adventurous and courageous men, a man who boldly helped lead the world forward in aeronautics and space exploration, was Eugene F Kranz.
Gene Kranz was a tough disciplinarian who was also very well liked and very highly respected. While Gene Kranz focused on cutting-edge historic advancement, at the same time he successfully inpired the people around him to "take responsibility for their actions" and "be the absolute best they could be".
In many decades of work for NASA, Gene Kranz was the man in charge of man's first landing on the Moon in July 1969: Apoll 11. As Flight Director at NASA, Mr Kranz also used his "Failure Is Not An Option" credo in the remarkable recovery efforts needed to bring the Apollo 13 crew back to Earth successfully.
In recent years in the 2000's Mr Kranz has continued spreading his inspirational message of "dedicated excellence" and "responsible accomplishment" through speaking engagements. While many people know the names of the famous Astronauts like Buzz Aldrin, John Glenn, Gene Cernan, Walter Cunningham, Wally Schirra, Neil Armstrong, etc., many people would not immediately recognize the name of the man behind the mission, Gene Kranz. If you appreciate hard-work, proper-respect, wonderful accomplishment, and "blazing new trails", you should enjoy getting to know Gene Kranz through his autobiographical book "Failure Is Not An Option"... onwards & upwards.....

I bought this book because I had the opportunity to meet Gene Kranz and get his autograph. Ive gotten about a quarter of the way through the book -- its been good so far. Inspiring? Definitely.