Richard Russell Lawrence – författare

In the words of those who trod the void and those at missioncontrol, here are over 50 of the greatest true stories of suborbital,orbital and deep-space exploration. From Apollo 8''sfirst view of a fractured, tortured landscape of craters on the''dark side'' of the Moon to the series of cliff-hanger crisesaboard space station Mir, they include moments ofextraordinary heroic achievement as well as episodes of terriblehuman cost. Among the astronauts and cosmonauts featured areJohn Glenn, Pavel Beyayev, Jim Lovell, Neil Armstrong, BuzzAldrin, Valery Korzun, Vasily Tsibliyev and Michael Foale.Includes • First walk in space by Sergei Leonov and histraumatic return to Earth • Apollo 13''s problem - the classic,nail-biting account of abandoning ship on the way to theMoon • Docking with the frozen, empty Salyut 7 space stationthat had drifted without power for eight months • Progresscrashes into Mir - the astronauts survive death by a hair''sbreadth • Jerry Linenger''s panic attack during a space walk,''just out there dangling''.

Into the eye of danger with the men who put the ''special'' in special forcesThe once shadowy activities of special forces have grown into an increasingly exposed element of 21st century warfare and anti-terrorist activity. Here, in one giant unputdownable volume, are 30 of the most dangerous special operations of modern times.Drawn from the flashpoints of the world, and above all Iraq and Afghanistan, these first-hand and reported accounts of missions by the SAS, Delta Force, Green Beret, Commandos and other forces will leave you on the edge of your seat.The accounts include: Blackhawk Down - the US Delta forces debacle in Mogadishu, Somalia, 1993 British Special forces fight Al Qaeda at close quarters in Afghanistan 2003 Task Force Raider - US Special forces teams track down Saddam Hussein, 2003 The British ''Blackhawk Down'' - Paras shoot their way out of trouble in Majar, Iraq 2003 The capture of insurgent leader Chemical Evil Fat Mama, Fallujah, November 2003