The Space Barons, Christian Davenport
The Space Barons, Christian Davenport
48 Rating(s)
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

The Space Barons
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos

Author: Christian Davenport

Narrator: Will Collyer

Unabridged: 10 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 03/20/2018

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

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.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Mario the lone bookwolf on December 06, 2018

After decades of state delays, the visionaries are turning to Mars cities and asteroid mining. Please note that I have put the original German text to the end of this review. Just if you might be interested. Science fiction, especially space operas, hard science fiction, and the classic series, have d......more

Goodreads review by ☘Misericordia☘ on October 26, 2019

While I love everything that has to do with space era (which, sadly, isn't anywhere in the observable future, since something went wrong at some point, somewhere), business, innovation, new tech, daring business undertakings, etc etc... But, somehow, this book, even though it's supposed to combine a......more

Goodreads review by Dee on January 07, 2018

The full title of this book, The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos, emphasizes the battle between two of the main figures in the book. While I understand the name-dropping can potentially help in selling more copies, I feel it is important to mention others fe......more

Goodreads review by Carlos on February 10, 2019

3.5 stars for this book. This is a very interesting read if you are into space exploration and the advances the private industry is doing towards the goal of sending humans to mars soon. The book focuses on big names like Jeff Bezos and Elon musk and 2 other billionaires and the work their companies......more

Goodreads review by Sauerkirsche on September 30, 2019

Insgesamt ein sehr informativer Überblick der verschiedenen Privatunternehmer und deren Weltraumprojekten. Elon Musks Projekte waren mir aus der Biographie von Ashlee Vance bereits alle bekannt, trotzdem habe ich diese Abschnitte gerne gelesen, da ich doch schon einiges wieder vergessen hatte. Jeff B......more


Quotes

"The Space Barons by Christian Davenport, a Washington Post reporter, is 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, NewYork Times Book Review

"The Space Barons is a pacy, smartly reported book on the new generation of entrepreneurs who are transforming the business of space... [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

"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."—TheWashington Post

"Highly accessible... Davenport's access to key players, from the companies' founders to its employees, lends authority to his account."—Scientific Inquirer

"Important and revealing"—The Weekly Standard

"The Space Barons is fastidious and engrossing"—TheSpectator

"Entertaining, skillfully narrated book"—The Week

"In The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos, Christian Davenport tells the backstories of the billionaires who are vying for control of the emerging NewSpace industry."—The New Yorker

"Christian Davenport has written a terrific book on the new space entrepreneurs."—Newt Gingrich

"Topping my reading list for space fans this summer is The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos, Christian Davenport's fine new book on competition in the New Space world."—Forbes.com