[bobo_legos]

Does anyone know some good books that explore the space race? I've read Carrying the Fire(which was excellent), but it doesn't touch much on what the Soviets were doing.

[e-_pusher]

This biography of the chief rocket designer of the Soviets, Sergei Korolev, is also a good introduction to the Soviet space program.

https://www.amazon.com/Korolev-Masterminded-Soviet-Drive-Ame...

[Cyphusx]

I found "This New Ocean" by William E. Burrows to be a rather good account of the first space race, as it covers both sides in an equal amount of detail.

[avmich]

I'd strongly recommend Boris Chertok's "Rockets and People" - https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/rockets_people_vol1_deta... . 4-volume first hand account (Chertok's immediate boss was Korolev and then Mishin, of N-1 fame, and Glushko, Energiya-Buran) . Really good memoirs about Soviet side of things.