Specialty Press

The Apollo 11 Moon Landing 40th Anniversary Photographic Retrospective

by  Dennis R. Jenkins and Jorge R. Frank

Reviewed By  Marc Blackburn, IPMS# 42892

MSRP: $16.95 ISBN: 978-1580071482 Website: www.specialtypress.com This year (2009) marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo Moon landings. I was seven years old at the time and I can vividly remember how thrilling it was to see those grainy black-and-white television images of Neil Armstrong slowly descending the ladder from the lunar module onto the surface of the moon. In honor of this historic occasion, Dennis Jenkins and Jorge Frank have assembled a photographic retrospective of the first Apollo mission to land on the moon. The book is split into six chapters. The first sections very briefly introduce the reader to the basics of the Apollo program, the development of the Saturn V rocket, lunar and command modules, and an overview of the mission. The first chapters also include schematic drawings of the space craft and a selection of black and white and color photographs documenting the run up to the launch. The bulk of the book is dedicated to the trip to the moon, the landing, and subsequent return. The highlights of this book are the beautifully reproduced color photographs. To the credit of the authors, they have chosen a wide range of seldom-seen photographs that show the details of the interior and exterior of the spacecraft and, of course, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin gallivanting across the surface of the moon. The photographs are clear enough and show the necessary details for those modelers who want to improve upon the Revell model of the lunar lander and Saturn V rocket. The book ends with a brief discussion of the current NASA plans to return to the moon. This book is not meant to be a historical overview of the moon missions and, at times, delves too much into the jargon of NASA. Capsule biographies of the three-crew members would have put a more human portrait on the technical coverage given to the Apollo 11 mission. Nevertheless, for those who need a photographic reference for the first moon shot, this is an excellent photographic summary from one of the most historic events of our time. Thanks to Specialty Press for the chance to review this great book.