Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - ""Stunning...A heart-pounding thriller...Challenger is a remarkable book."" --The Atlantic - ""Devastating...A universal story that transcends time."" --The New York Times - ""Dramatic...a moving narrative."" --The Wall Street Journal From the New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in Chernobyl comes the definitive, ""compelling, and exhaustively researched"" (The Washington Post) minute-by-minute account of the Challenger disaster, based on fascinating and new archival research--a riveting history that reads like a thriller. On January 28, 1986, just seventy-three seconds into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board. Millions of Americans witnessed the tragic deaths of the crew, which included New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Like the assassination of JFK, the Challenger disaster is a defining moment in 20th-century history--one that forever changed the way America thought of itself and its optimistic view of the future. Yet the full story of what happened, and why, has never been told. Based on extensive archival research and metic-ulous, original reporting, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space follows a handful of central protagonists--including each of the seven members of the doomed crew--through the years leading up to the accident, and offers a detailed account of the tragedy itself and the inves-tigation afterward. It's a compelling tale of ambition and ingenuity undermined by political cynicism and cost-cutting in the interests of burnishing national prestige; of hubris and heroism; and of an investigation driven by leakers and whistleblowers determined to bring the truth to light. Throughout, there are the ominous warning signs of a tragedy to come, recognized but then ignored, and later hidden from the public. Higginbotham reveals the history of the shuttle program and the lives of men and women whose stories have been overshadowed by the disaster, as well as the designers, engineers, and test pilots who struggled against the odds to get the first shuttle into space. A masterful blend of riveting human drama and fascinating and absorbing science, Challenger identifies a turning point in history--and brings to life an even more complex and astonishing story than we remember.

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9781982176617

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Reviews

""Stunning . . . Challenger is a remarkable book. It manages to be a whodunit that stretches hundreds of pages, a heart-pounding thriller even though readers already know the ending. The passion and ideals at the heart of human spaceflight come through, which only adds to the tragedy of understanding how many chances there were to save the astronauts aboard. Our faith in the systems that run our world is really faith in our fellow man--a chilling reality to remember."" --The Atlantic ""Hefty, compelling, and propulsive, Challenger overflows with revelatory details. . . . Higginbotham is a master chronicler of disasters, demonstrating an unflinching ability to pierce through politics, power, and bureaucracies with laser-sharp focus."" --BookPage (starred review) ""With its emotional scope and exacting resonance, writer Adam Higginbotham has truly crafted the ultimate tribute to the Challenger and its place in space exploration history. . . . Told with a remarkable storytelling flair, Higginbotham's exhaustive volume is a brilliant effort of investigative journalism that stands as a riveting examination of the complex costs of innovation, imagination, political positioning, clashing personalities, mismanagement and a series of fateful internal NASA decisions that partly led to the spacecraft's sudden destruction upon liftoff."" --Space.com ""Higginbotham is an intrepid journalist and skillful storyteller who takes care to humanize the dozens of major and minor players involved in NASA's many successful, and occasionally catastrophic, space missions. . . . For cynical Americans, disaster buffs, and engineers, Challenger will be a quick, devastating read. In Higginbotham's deft hands, the human element--sometimes heroic, sometimes cloaked in doublespeak and bluster--shines through the many technical aspects of this story, a constant reminder that every decision was made by people weighing risks versus expediency, their minds distorted by power, money, politics, and yes-men. It's a universal story that transcends time."" --New York Times ""In clear and accessible language, Higginbotham explains the mechanics of the shuttle and its problems without sacrificing any of the pace that carries readers forward. . . . The book delivers a compelling, comprehensive history of the disaster that exposed, as Higginbotham writes, how 'the nation's smartest minds had unwittingly sent seven men and women to their deaths.'"" --Associated Press ""Superb . . . In the hands of Higginbotham, the narrative comes to life in a fresh telling fueled by meticulous detail and exacting prose. While familiar, the story is rendered dreamlike so that readers can't help but hope, as it unfolds page by page, that somehow the outcome this time will be different. . . . A compelling and exhaustively researched chronicle of the calamity that traces its full arc--the evolution of the enabling culture that allowed it, the terrible day itself, and its enduring legacy."" --Washington Post ""Dramatic . . . Mr. Higginbotham's prose grows taut as the Challenger liftoff approaches. . . . [A] moving narrative."" --Wall Street Journal ""Higginbotham's comprehensive and affecting recounting and explanation illuminates a tragedy that was entirely preventable."" --Booklist (starred review) ""A deeply researched, fluently written study in miscommunication, hubris, and technological overreach."" --Kirkus Reviews (starred) ""Gripping history . . . Higginbotham's colorful narrative contrasts the eager idealism of Challenger's crew, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, with the arrogance of NASA honchos who dismissed warnings and casually gambled with the astronauts' lives. His account of the engineering issues is lucid and meticulous, and his evocative prose conveys both the extraordinary achievement of rocket scientists in harnessing colossal energies with delicate mechanisms and the sudden cataclysms that erupt when the machinery fails. The result is a beguiling saga of the peril and promise of spaceflight."" --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"""A masterly example of how meticulous research and adherence to factual detail can build a narrative of almost unbearable suspense. At the same time, with the outcome known from the beginning, the story has the implacable power of tragic inevitability."" --Geoff Dyer, author of The Last Days of Roger Federer: And Other Endings PRAISE FOR MIDNIGHT IN CHERNOBYL: ""Superb, enthralling and necessarily terrifying . . . the accident unfurls with a horrible inevitability. Weaving together the experiences of those who were there that night, Higginbotham marshals the details so meticulously that every step feels spring-loaded with tension. . . . Amid so much rich reporting and scrupulous analysis, some major themes emerge. . . . Higginbotham's extraordinary book is another advance in the long struggle to fill in some of the gaps, bringing much of what was hidden into the light."" --Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times ""Midnight in Chernobyl is top-notch historical narrative: a tense, fast-paced, engrossing, and revelatory product of more than a decade of research. . . . A stunningly detailed account . . . For all its wealth of information, the work never becomes overwhelming or difficult to follow. Higginbotham humanizes the tale, maintaining a focus on the people involved and the choices, both heroic and not, they made in unimaginable circumstances. This is an essential human tale with global consequences."" --Booklist (starred review) ""Midnight in Chernobyl is wonderful and chilling. . . . Adam Higginbotham tells the story of the disaster and its gruesome aftermath with thriller-like flair. . . . It is a tale of hubris and doomed ambition, featuring Communist party bosses and hapless engineers, victims and villains, confusion and cover-up."" --The Guardian ""A compelling, panoramic account."" --The Christian Science Monitor ""An account that reads almost like the script for a movie . . . Mr. Higginbotham has captured the terrible drama."" --The Wall Street Journal ""A gripping miss-your-subway-stop read . . . Higginbotham captures the nerve-racked Soviet atmosphere brilliantly."" --The New York Times Book Review ""In chilling detail, this book recounts the many missteps of their response to the disaster. . . . Higginbotham compellingly suggests that these flaws all but predicted the calamity--and, in turn, the collapse of the Soviet Union itself."" --The New Yorker ""There has been much reporting about the disaster, but no book has so ably and artfully captured the whole story of what happened that night and in the months and years that followed. With meticulous details, careful research, and a gripping narrative, Midnight in Chernobyl is a must-read about nuclear power and the end of the Soviet Union."" --Time ""This is a highly detailed, carefully documented, beautifully narrated telling of this breathtakingly complex accident and its mitigation. Higginbotham's handling of the sociopolitical context is also deft."" --Nature ""Written with authority, this superb book reads like a classic disaster story and reveals a Soviet empire on the brink. . . . [A] vivid and exhaustive account."" --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ""A riveting, deeply reported reconstruction . . . In this powerful work of reportage, Chernobyl and its aftermath emerge as the Soviet Union's last stand, containing all the pathologies and passion of that social experiment now lost to history."" --The Los Angeles Times"

"PRAISE FOR MIDNIGHT IN CHERNOBYL: ""Superb, enthralling and necessarily terrifying . . . the accident unfurls with a horrible inevitability. Weaving together the experiences of those who were there that night, Higginbotham marshals the details so meticulously that every step feels spring-loaded with tension. . . . Amid so much rich reporting and scrupulous analysis, some major themes emerge. . . . Higginbotham's extraordinary book is another advance in the long struggle to fill in some of the gaps, bringing much of what was hidden into the light."" --Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times ""Midnight in Chernobyl is top-notch historical narrative: a tense, fast-paced, engrossing, and revelatory product of more than a decade of research. . . . A stunningly detailed account . . . For all its wealth of information, the work never becomes overwhelming or difficult to follow. Higginbotham humanizes the tale, maintaining a focus on the people involved and the choices, both heroic and not, they made in unimaginable circumstances. This is an essential human tale with global consequences."" --Booklist (starred review) ""Midnight in Chernobyl is wonderful and chilling. . . . Adam Higginbotham tells the story of the disaster and its gruesome aftermath with thriller-like flair. . . . It is a tale of hubris and doomed ambition, featuring Communist party bosses and hapless engineers, victims and villains, confusion and cover-up."" --The Guardian ""A compelling, panoramic account."" --The Christian Science Monitor ""An account that reads almost like the script for a movie . . . Mr. Higginbotham has captured the terrible drama."" --The Wall Street Journal ""A gripping miss-your-subway-stop read . . . Higginbotham captures the nerve-racked Soviet atmosphere brilliantly."" --The New York Times Book Review ""A riveting, deeply reported reconstruction . . . In this powerful work of reportage, Chernobyl and its aftermath emerge as the Soviet Union's last stand, containing all the pathologies and passion of that social experiment now lost to history."" --The Los Angeles Times ""In chilling detail, this book recounts the many missteps of their response to the disaster. . . . Higginbotham compellingly suggests that these flaws all but predicted the calamity--and, in turn, the collapse of the Soviet Union itself."" --The New Yorker ""There has been much reporting about the disaster, but no book has so ably and artfully captured the whole story of what happened that night and in the months and years that followed. With meticulous details, careful research, and a gripping narrative, Midnight in Chernobyl is a must-read about nuclear power and the end of the Soviet Union."" --Time ""This is a highly detailed, carefully documented, beautifully narrated telling of this breathtakingly complex accident and its mitigation. Higginbotham's handling of the sociopolitical context is also deft."" --Nature ""Written with authority, this superb book reads like a classic disaster story and reveals a Soviet empire on the brink. . . . [A] vivid and exhaustive account."" --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"

Author Information

Adam Higginbotham has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Wired, GQ, and Smithsonian. He is the author of Midnight in Chernobyl, which was the winner of the William E. Colby Award and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, and Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space. He lives with his family in New York City.

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