Overview

The historic quest to rekindle the human exploration and colonization of space led by two rivals and their vast fortunes, egos, and visions of space as the next entrepreneurial frontier The Space Barons is the story of a group of billionaire entrepreneurs who are pouring their fortunes into the epic resurrection of the American space program. Nearly a half-century after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, these Space Barons-most notably Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, along with Richard Branson and Paul Allen-are using Silicon Valley-style innovation to dramatically lower the cost of space travel, and send humans even further than NASA has gone. These entrepreneurs have founded some of the biggest brands in the world-Amazon, Microsoft, Virgin, Tesla, PayPal-and upended industry after industry. Now they are pursuing the biggest disruption of all: space. Based on years of reporting and exclusive interviews with all four billionaires, this authoritative account is a dramatic tale of risk and high adventure, the birth of a new Space Age, fueled by some of the world's richest men as they struggle to end governments' monopoly on the cosmos. The Space Barons is also a story of rivalry-hard-charging startups warring with established contractors-and the personal clashes of the leaders of this new space movement, particularly Musk and Bezos, as they aim for the moon and Mars and beyond.

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9781549198021

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Reviews

"Davenport displays his reporting and storytelling skills. His writing is tight and, suitably for the subject matter, propulsive. He fleshes out the main protagonists with fine character vignettes. -- ""Washington Post"" The Space Barons is fastidious and engrossing. -- ""Spectator (London)"" [The] book fizzes with some wonderful human stories of imagination and endeavor but also provides a broad sweep of the current state of the space industry. -- ""Financial Times (London)"" A compelling narrative of how Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Paul Allen all dreamed at an early age of the prospects of commercial space travel...Thorough compelling storytelling... [and] impressive research and extensive interviews. -- ""Winnipeg Free Press (Canada)"" An exciting narrative filled with colorful reporting and sharp insights. The book sparkles because of Davenport's access to the main players and his talent for crisp storytelling. -- ""Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author"" Readers will thrill at this lucid, detailed, and admiring account of wealthy space buffs who are spending their own money, making headlines, producing genuine technical advances, and resurrecting the yearning to explore the cosmos. -- ""Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"" Tells the backstories of the billionaires who are vying for control of the emerging NewSpace industry. -- "" New Yorker"" Topping my reading list for space fans this summer is The Space Barons..Christian Davenport's fine new book on competition in the New Space world. -- ""Forbes"""

Readers will thrill at this lucid, detailed, and admiring account of wealthy space buffs who are spending their own money, making headlines, producing genuine technical advances, and resurrecting the yearning to explore the cosmos. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A compelling narrative of how Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Paul Allen all dreamed at an early age of the prospects of commercial space travel...Thorough compelling storytelling... [and] impressive research and extensive interviews. -- Winnipeg Free Press (Canada) Topping my reading list for space fans this summer is The Space Barons..Christian Davenport's fine new book on competition in the New Space world. -- Forbes Davenport displays his reporting and storytelling skills. His writing is tight and, suitably for the subject matter, propulsive. He fleshes out the main protagonists with fine character vignettes. -- Washington Post The Space Barons is fastidious and engrossing. -- Spectator (London) [The] book fizzes with some wonderful human stories of imagination and endeavor but also provides a broad sweep of the current state of the space industry. -- Financial Times (London) Tells the backstories of the billionaires who are vying for control of the emerging NewSpace industry. -- New Yorker An exciting narrative filled with colorful reporting and sharp insights. The book sparkles because of Davenport's access to the main players and his talent for crisp storytelling. -- Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author

An exciting narrative filled with colorful reporting and sharp insights. The book sparkles because of Davenport's access to the main players and his talent for crisp storytelling. -- Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author Tells the backstories of the billionaires who are vying for control of the emerging NewSpace industry. -- New Yorker [The] book fizzes with some wonderful human stories of imagination and endeavor but also provides a broad sweep of the current state of the space industry. -- Financial Times (London) The Space Barons is fastidious and engrossing. -- Spectator (London) Davenport displays his reporting and storytelling skills. His writing is tight and, suitably for the subject matter, propulsive. He fleshes out the main protagonists with fine character vignettes. -- Washington Post Topping my reading list for space fans this summer is The Space Barons..Christian Davenport's fine new book on competition in the New Space world. -- Forbes A compelling narrative of how Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Paul Allen all dreamed at an early age of the prospects of commercial space travel...Thorough compelling storytelling... [and] impressive research and extensive interviews. -- Winnipeg Free Press (Canada) Readers will thrill at this lucid, detailed, and admiring account of wealthy space buffs who are spending their own money, making headlines, producing genuine technical advances, and resurrecting the yearning to explore the cosmos. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Davenport displays his reporting and storytelling skills. His writing is tight and, suitably for the subject matter, propulsive. He fleshes out the main protagonists with fine character vignettes. -- Washington Post The Space Barons is fastidious and engrossing. -- Spectator (London) [The] book fizzes with some wonderful human stories of imagination and endeavor but also provides a broad sweep of the current state of the space industry. -- Financial Times (London) A compelling narrative of how Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Paul Allen all dreamed at an early age of the prospects of commercial space travel...Thorough compelling storytelling... [and] impressive research and extensive interviews. -- Winnipeg Free Press (Canada) An exciting narrative filled with colorful reporting and sharp insights. The book sparkles because of Davenport's access to the main players and his talent for crisp storytelling. -- Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author Readers will thrill at this lucid, detailed, and admiring account of wealthy space buffs who are spending their own money, making headlines, producing genuine technical advances, and resurrecting the yearning to explore the cosmos. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Tells the backstories of the billionaires who are vying for control of the emerging NewSpace industry. -- New Yorker Topping my reading list for space fans this summer is The Space Barons..Christian Davenport's fine new book on competition in the New Space world. -- Forbes

Author Information

Christian Davenport is a staff writer at the Washington Post covering the space and defense industries for the financial desk. He joined the Post in 2000, and has written about the DC-area sniper shootings, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, and the burial problems at Arlington National Cemetery. He is a recipient of the Peabody award for his work on veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury and has been on reporting teams that were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize three times. Will Collyer, an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator, is a film, television, and stage actor. He has starred in television shows such as Melrose Place, Charmed, CSI: Miami, and Boston Public, as well as numerous films and plays. He holds a BA in theater arts from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television.

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