u003cbu003eSoon to be a major motion picture, this is the first—and only—definitive authorized account of Neil Armstrong, the man whose “one small step” changed history.u003c/bu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003eWhen Apollo 11 touched down on the Moon’s surface in 1969, the first man on the Moon became a legend. In u003ciu003eFirst Manu003c/iu003e, author James R. Hansen explores the life of Neil Armstrong. Based on over fifty hours of interviews with the intensely private Armstrong, who also gave Hansen exclusive access to private documents and family sources, this “magnificent panorama of the second half of the American twentieth century” (u003ciu003ePublishers Weeklyu003c/iu003e, starred review) is an unparalleled biography of an American icon.u003cbru003e u003cbru003e In this “compelling and nuanced portrait” (u003ciu003eChicago Tribuneu003c/iu003e) filled with revelations, Hansen vividly recreates Armstrong’s career in flying, from his seventy-eight combat missions as a naval aviator flying over North Korea to his formative trans-atmospheric flights in the rocket-powered X-15 to his piloting Gemini VIII to the first-ever docking in space. For a pilot who cared more about flying to the Moon than he did about walking on it, Hansen asserts, Armstrong’s storied vocation exacted a dear personal toll, paid in kind by his wife and children. For the near-fifty years since the Moon landing, rumors have swirled around Armstrong concerning his dreams of space travel, his religious beliefs, and his private life.u003cbru003e u003cbru003e A penetrating exploration of American hero worship, Hansen addresses the complex legacy of the First Man, as an astronaut and as an individual. “u003ciu003eFirst Manu003c/iu003e burrows deep into Armstrong’s past and present…What emerges is an earnest and brave man” (u003ciu003eHouston Chronicleu003c/iu003e) who will forever be known as history’s most famous space traveler.
