Compared to most of Michener's later novels, Space has a short time span—less than forty years. The story begins with the German rocketeers at Peenemünde in the last months of World War II and winds up in the present. Sandwiched in between is an excellent fictional history of the promising rise and tragic decline of America's adventure into space. By shuffling together real people and events … and fictional ones …, Michener has caught the essence of what motivated and then enfeebled our space program…. As usual, Michener has done his homework, this time with affection and excitement as well—his pro-space enthusiasm is the book's driving force, and he has deftly woven an incredible amount of information into the tale. A lesser author might have been tempted to downgrade characterization and let the grandeur of the theme carry the novel along, but not Michener. His characters (while...