Book Review: The Corona Project

One of the enduring lessons of warfare is the advantage of taking and holding the high ground. The edge gained from being able to look down upon the enemy, detect his scheme of maneuver, and counter it from a position of dominance has long been recognized by military strategists. The need to deny this advantage to the enemy led to pioneering efforts in aerial combat in the early twentieth century and, in turn, revolutionized warfare. Today, and increasingly so in the future, that high ground is represented by space.

Just as present-day airmen trace their roots to the storied men from Dayton, future members of the US military who ply their trade above the surface of the earth will someday look back to the pioneers of the American space community. One of the central stories of the birth and early growth of our national efforts in space is detailed in The Corona Project. With this book, Curtis Peebles has completed a protracted struggle to bring to light the long-classified tale of how our nation went about preventing another Pearl Harbor during the cold war. Many aspects of that program led to today's highly protected "national technical means" of intelligence collection, but this account gives the