One Giant Leap

“Reveals a man of incredible bravery and extraordinary drive, who overcame all obstacles in his path.” —New York Times–bestselling author Nelson DeMille

On July 20, 1969 the whole world stopped. It was a day in which a man who grew up on a farm without electricity would announce, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

In this, the first ever biography of Neil Armstrong, journalist Leon Wagener explores the man whose walk on the moon is still compared to humankind's progenitor's crawl out of the primordial ooze. And whose retreat back to a farm in his native Ohio soon after the last ticker tape confetti fell, has left him looked upon as a reclusive hermit ever since.

This is the true story of a national hero, whose lifelong quest to walk on the moon truly mirrors our best selves, an American who braved incredible danger daily over a long career, finally achieving what seemed impossible, and broke free of the Earth's surly bonds proving forever that man can reach for the stars, and succeed.

Relying on hundreds of interviews with family and friends of the astronaut, plus generous access to the NASA files, Leon Wagener explores the life of one of America's true heroes, in a book filled with extraordinary adventure, and even greater achievement.

“Neil Armstrong is a genuine American hero, right up there in the pantheon with George Washington, Daniel Boone and Charles Lindbergh, a man whose character, courage, and brains helped shape his age. Leon Wagener has captured the man inside the myth in this excellent biography.” —New York Times–bestselling author Stephen Coonts