Nicholas Booth

Achievements in space have been more exciting than most people anticipated; a look back at the completed programs and missions shows what we’ve learned. But voyages of discovery will continue, for there is still much to learn.

Explore the possibilities for production in zero-gravity space stations. Speculate on what babies born in space may look like. Explore the myriad possibilities of space, not just in exploration, but in practical applications for existing technologies.

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This work is very well researched, and the writing is excellent.

Where I take issue with the story is in the motivations of its protagonist, Eddie Chapman. From a pre-war life of petty crime, and complete disregard for civility, we are asked to believe that Chapman (while languishing in a hell-hole of a jail in the Channel Islands) has had a crisis of conscience, and offers himself up as fodder for British Intelligence. But to do so, he must first get himself recruited by the Nazis' intelligence arm, the Abwehr.

Considering Chapman's behaviour leading up to the fateful moment when he offers his talents (among which is an active familiarity with explosives) to German Intelligence immediately after they overrun the Channel Islands, the intelligent and discerning reader cannot help but question his motives. In fact, all the way through the book, it is evident that Chapman's sole motivation is either to get himself out of a bad situation (as in the Jersey jail cell), or to enrich himself (by going back to Germany after he has been apprehended by British Intelligence, and then Chapman patriotically offers himself up as a double agent). Of course, he brags to all and sundry that the Germans owe him a king's ransom for "blowing up" the factory producing DeHavilland's mighty Mosquito fighter-bomber.

In every incident throughout the war, Chapman shows himself to be nothing more than an opportunist. Yes, it is likely that he did aid British Intelligence in a couple of minor ways, but it seems highly likely that Eddie Chapman's main concern and motivation was nothing more than to live a life of luxury and self-importance, without regard for the consequences.

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