To the Moon and back: an in-depth account of the race to space

Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin: the crew of Apollo 11 remained ‘amiable strangers’ after their trip to the Moon PIc: Getty

HISTORY: Apollo 11: The Inside Story, By David Whitehouse, Icon Books, €16.45

Richard Nixon called it “the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation”. The US president was welcoming the crew of Apollo 11 back to Earth, but the epoch-defining achievement of the first spaceflight to put humans on the Moon almost didn’t happen.

When Neil Armstrong landed the Eagle – the lunar module – on the Moon’s surface ...