I found and read this book online some time ago, and finally got around to acquiring a "hard copy" version.
It's an engrossing (for a rocket nerd) history of the earliest days of American rocketry. Starting with the post WWII acquisition of German scientists and hardware, and learning rocketry from the German scientists and engineers flying the V2s. Then the program inauguration under the leadership of Milton Rosen.
Things were way different back then, with a steep learning curve and plenty of failures to learn from. The Viking rocket itself was the first using a turbo pump fed engine. which immediately introduced it's own set of new failure modes. Fueled by liquid oxygen and alcohol, and with each airframe different from the previous, the program advanced slowly through the 7 launches of the initial series. Eventually, it broke the V2's altitude record on it's 7th flight. The later series featured a larger airframe which was used in the Vanguard program.
One of the interesting areas is the discussion (in future tense) of orbital flights and manned spaceflight. Also, the discussions of spaceflight in general, the space environment, and the basics of rocket design are interesting, looking back through the decades.
It used to be available online, but I can't find it anymore, so bought a copy online. A really entertaining read on one of the US's earliest rocket programs.
