Les Russes dans l'espace

A French adaptation of a book by Soviet journalist Yevgeny Ryabchikov prepared by the Novosti Press Agency, The Russians in Space traces the history of Soviet cosmonautics from Konstantin Tsiolkovsky's theoretical work to the first Salyut stations (1971). Across twenty chapters it alternates between portraits of the cosmonauts (Gagarin, Titov, Nikolayev, Tereshkova, Leonov, Komarov, the Soyuz 11 crew), the story of the rocketry pioneers (Kibalchich, the GIRD, Tsander, Korolev) and an account of the major programmes (Sputnik, Vostok, Voskhod, Soyuz, the Luna and Venera probes). The author, an eyewitness to many launches, blends reconstructed dialogue, personal recollections and official chronicle.