The book is not based on facts, it is a fictional spacecraft manual.

          This is a fictional all-colour guide to the major spacecraft of the last century, 2000-2100 AD, the time of the great advances in space technology that followed the first, hesitant steps of the late 1900s.

          The individual stories of these craft are set against the historical background which created them. New industrial techniques and resources led to more advanced ships which opened the door to further possibilities in an accelerating spiral of development.

          Contact with other inhabitants of our galaxy in 2036 AD led to an era of war and peace, industry and innovation, during which the greatest advances in space engineering ever made produced a fascinating array of hardware.

          Here then, is the story of Man’s journey to the stars and the means by which it was made.