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The Space Barons  By  cover art

The Space Barons

By: Christian Davenport
Narrated by: Will Collyer
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Publisher's summary

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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2018 Christian Davenport (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"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."—The Washington Post

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What listeners say about The Space Barons

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An Incredible Modern Story Well Told

The book we've all been waiting for. I've been deeply engaged in this industry since the start of the incredible story that Davenport tells and I can say that this is the most comprehensive and professional treatment of the commercial spaceflight revolution to date. The author is a professional reporter and a fine wordsmith who understands his context and characters. He weaves a tale of adventure, excess and excitement on the final frontier that will keep even non-space cadets enthralled. This is a character based study and is not particularly distracted by the technologies or the data. You won't find the seconds of ISP rating on the latest SpaceX second stage engine configuration or the coefficient of drag on Virgin's VSS Unity. What Davenport does in nail the big personalities and unusual motivations that drive this generations boldest entrepreneurs to go where none have gone before.

The narration is also excellent. Collyer conveys the tension and enthusiasm of the story without distraction. He gets the names and technical pronunciations correct as well (a thing that always bugs me in tech books).

"Space Barrons" is a great summer read for anyone but it is a must-listen for any aspiring Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson or Elon Musk. I hope they all download it and are motivated to do impossibly great things someday, themselves.

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8 people found this helpful

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Boring Book on Exciting Topic

This book was 2-3 times longer than it needed to be, which means too much filler and an overall boring experience. Bummer.

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4 people found this helpful

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A background on modern space ventures

Interesting text on the space ventures of Musk, Besos, and Branson. A bit repetitive though.

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3 people found this helpful

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Loved it

A great history of the private space business sector. I definitely recommend. Have it read at 1.35x

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Great

Well-document content with a good reader making the whole a captivating audiobook! Highly recommended.

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I'm a Space Nut... And I LOVED It!

I've been fascinated by space travel since I was a kid--I went to Space Camp in Huntsville twice. One time our team won "Best Mission" and I'm proud to say I was Commander of that mission.

Unfortunately, to date that highlight of my space career was when I was 13 years old. "The Space Barons" reignited that childhood spark and wonder for what space travel can ultimately be, while providing some insight into the modern-day commercial space race that's shaping up... its huge upside... and the very real risks that come with it.

It's tough to humanize billionaires, but Davenport does it with ease. Sometimes unintentionally, when Jeff Bezos makes a very (ahem) in retrospect hilarious comment about his "really big rocket" he's working on... but I digress...

Really great book and well-performed for any space nut!

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Very good overview

If you’ve read other books on Bezos or Elon, some of this content will be repetitive. Overall - very good, quick read.

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It said this headline was optional but it was not

I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting to read about the struggles that were over come. It did leave me wanting as the book only gets to 2017.

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Blue origin employee

I absolutely loved this book. As an employee of of blue origin I was amazed at the small details he managed to include about the companies down to the names of conference rooms and the quirks around the facility. Really is a great collection of stories that will make you want to never put it down. I’ve recommended this book to everyone I work with and just about anyone I meet.

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Great book, well written, good narator

This is a great book on the trials and tribulations the private sector has faced building rockets. Mostly about Musk, Bezos, Branson and some others.

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