There are two reasons I couldn't resist this book. First, I was
born on Oct. 5, 1957, one day after the Soviet Union sling-shotted
the first satellite, Sputnik, into space. So I'm a true space age
baby who grew up obsessed with the Cold War grudge match to reach
the moon. Second, I was a kid during the golden age of the
half-hour dog drama: television series like "Lassie," "The
Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" and "The Littlest Hobo." If there had
been a show called "Space Dogs," I would have been planted in front
of the screen, tongue contentedly lolling.--Dana Jennings "The New
York Times"
To this day, the images of the Soviet space dogs have lost none of
their aesthetic impact. "It's a weird combination of ideology and
dogs," says Murray.--Jake Wallis Simons "CNN Style"
[A] brilliant book.--Sydney Parker "Broadly.com"
A new book -- Soviet Space Dogs -- published this month by FUEL
collects 350 illustrations of these Russian canines as they were
canonized as symbols of the Space Race. Edited by Damon Murray and
Stephen Sorrell, with text by Olesya Turkina, the book examines how
the mutts were turned from unwitting test subjects into popular
heroes.--Allison Meier "Hyperallergic"
Damon Murray, co-founder of FUEL Design and Publishing in London,
came up with the idea to put a book together about the true story
of these early space explorers. He collected the images;
commissioned Dr. Olesya Turkina, a senior research fellow at the
Russian Museum, to write the text; and edited, designed, and
published the book with his business partner Stephen Sorrell. The
resulting Soviet Space Dogs is a gorgeous work of art, containing
adorable image after adorable image of the strays recruited against
their will to pave the way for the first man is space, Russian
cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who orbited the Earth in 1961.--Lisa Hix
"Collectors Weekly"
Remember the tragic tale of Laika, the first Earth-born creature to
enter space? A Russian street dog, she journeyed to the moon and
never returned. This book compiles the story of Laika and other
dogs, and the various Soviet ephemera and graphics that were used
to make these brave creatures into heroes of the state for a
generation of kids. Stranger than fiction and totally
brilliant.--Elisabeth Donnelly "flavorwire.com"
The book, an Aladdin's cave of eye-batting oddments and kitsch
curiosities, enchants the reader with some 350 archival photos and
images of arcane ephemera. In her Technicolor tour of space-age
propaganda and pop culture, Turkina shows just how deeply Laika dug
herself into the Soviet imagination.--Tolan Rory "LA Review of
Books"
Without really trying, it's alternately enlightening, reaffirming,
heartbreaking, and inspiring.--Amy Fernandez "The Canine Chronicle"
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