First: The New Story of Gagarin and the Space Race

This book recreates an accurate picture of the competition between the USSR and the USA for supremacy in sending a human into space. It is based on an impressive array of previously unpublished documents and statements from those who were not just witnesses to the events described but were active participants in them. The author draws parallels between Sergey Pavlovich Korolev and Wernher von Braun, the creators of rockets, as well as Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard, the two candidates for the first flight into space. The central focus of the narrative is the story of the first Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

- A unique study dedicated to the space race between the USSR and the USA. It gives readers the opportunity to familiarize themselves with a large array of previously unpublished documents
- A parallel description of the stages of development of manned spaceflight programs in both countries
- A parallel tracing of the fates of the participants in these programs in both countries
- Interesting details from the lives and preparation processes of candidates for cosmonauts and astronauts