A riveting history of
John Glenn’s epic orbital
flight at the “hour of
maximum danger.”
If the United States couldn’t catch up to the Soviets in space, how could it compete with them on Earth? That was the question facing John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War — a perilous time when the Soviet Union built the wall in Berlin, tested nuclear bombs more destructive than any in history, and beat the US to every major milestone in space. The race to the heavens seemed a race for survival — and America was losing.
On February 20, 1962, when John Glenn blasted into orbit aboard Friendship 7, his mission was not only to circle the planet; it was to calm the fears of the free world and renew America’s sense of self-belief. Mercury Rising re-creates the tension and excitement of a flight that shifted the momentum of the space race and put the United States on the path to the moon. It captures the fierce competition among the astronauts, NASA’s false starts and failed tests, and the sense of mortal danger throughout. Drawing on new archival sources, personal interviews, and previously unpublished notes by Glenn himself, Mercury Rising provides the fullest, richest portrait of Glenn to date, and reveals how the astronaut’s heroics lifted the nation’s hopes at a time of peril.
A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
One of the Washington Post’s 20 Books to Read This Summer
One of the New York Times’ 15 Books for June
One of Apple Books’ Summer’s Most Anticipated Books
One of National Book Review’s 5 Hot Books of the Week
Praise for Mercury Rising
“What a fresh and refreshing look at a familiar subject, now seen through an important geo-political lens rather than a scientific, technological, and nationalistic one. The new context is exciting, the usual characters made more vivid and dimensional. Bravo.”
“I loved this book. From the opening lines, I was riveted — I couldn’t put it down. Even though we know the ending, Jeff Shesol somehow creates a cliffhanger — immersive history that lifts us out of the moment we’re in and transports us to a time of genuine heroes. As this book reveals, John Glenn — stoic and selfless, but also restless and ambitious — embodies what we hold most dear about being American.”
“If there’s such a thing as a white-knuckle read, this is it. But Mercury Rising is a two-fer. Jeff Shesol interweaves heart-racing renderings of the dread and adrenaline of the earliest space flights with keen analysis of the geopolitical rivalry that drove the arc and pace of the space race. John Glenn emerges as both home-spun hero and Cold War cat’s paw, as well as a flesh-and-blood human being — and one hell of a pilot.”
Winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for History
“This is a story for the ages — the best account, ever, of the flight of Friendship 7. Shesol presents the Mercury Seven and their storied competition in a fresh and even provoking new light. Brilliantly researched and written, Mercury Rising is the book to read on the Cold War collaboration between John Kennedy and John Glenn.”
“I had the privilege of knowing John Glenn well — I helped select him and train him as an astronaut — and Jeff Shesol has rendered the most compelling portrait I’ve seen of Glenn since the real thing. This gripping book captures the fast pace and high stakes of the space program, and shows how Glenn helped win the struggle to surpass the Russians.”
“This book amazed me. It brought back such memories that I felt like I was reliving the events.”
