Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham is a great book. There is something here for everyone. If you remember the Challenger tragedy as a memorable “where I was when I heard” moment (I was in college at the time) and you want to learn more details about what happened and why, read this book. It goes without saying that if you have ever looked longingly at the stars and wondered what it would be like to travel among them, the story of NASA and the US space program can scratch that itch. If you want to see what innovation and invention looks like and how engineers solve problems, it’s here. If you’ve ever wondered how decisions are made in large, distributed organizations (ok, maybe that’s just me who wonders that), and how those decisions get derailed by bureaucracy, that’s what this book is about. If you are looking for a great example of narrative non-fiction and how to tell a story when everybody knows the end, read this book. The threads of the story are woven together because we know what happened and we even know the cause. It is filled with heroes, villains, heart-breaking emotions and even tension about what’s going to happen.
Challenger Book
