A Night In with Stephen Walker
Interviewed by Sarah Cruddas to mark the publication of Beyond
This event is now available to watch on demand until 19th April.
The ‘stream and book’ package includes a unique ticket for the stream, and a copy of Beyond (RRP £20) deliverable to any UK address.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected]
9.07 a.m., April 12, 1961. A top-secret rocket site in the USSR. A young Russian sits inside a tiny capsule on top of the Soviet Union’s most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile – originally designed to carry a nuclear warhead – and blasts into the skies. His name is Yuri Gagarin. And he is about to make history.
Travelling at almost 18,000 miles per hour – ten times faster than a rifle bullet – Gagarin circles the globe in just 106 minutes. From his windows he sees the earth as nobody has before, crossing a sunset and a sunrise, crossing oceans and continents, witnessing its beauty and its fragility. While his launch begins in total secrecy, within hours of his landing he has become a world celebrity- the first human to leave the planet.
Join award-winning documentary director and bestselling author, Stephen Walker, as he tells the thrilling story behind that epic flight on its sixtieth anniversary.
In conversation with Sarah Cruddas for this exclusive event, Stephen will unpack secrets that were hidden for decades and take us into the drama of one of humanity's greatest adventures and explore the historical context of the flight, at the height of the Cold War as the US and USSR confronted each other across an Iron Curtain. Drawing on extensive original research and the vivid testimonies of eyewitnesses, many of whom have never spoken before, he will also share the stories of the scientists, engineers, and political leaders on both sides, and above all, the American astronauts and their Soviet rivals battling for supremacy in the heavens.
Don’t miss this fascinating and enlightening evening with Stephen as he immerses us in the astonishing story of the first human to leave our planet, and journey into space.
“This remarkable account of the 1961 race into space is a thrilling piece of storytelling ... It is high-definition history: tight, thrilling and beautifully researched.” – Sunday Times