The two pilots in the title are Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran and Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb. Jackie worked her way up from extreme poverty to head of her own cosmetics company, leader of the Women’s Auxiliary Service Pilots, and setter of many aviation records (including being the first woman to break the sound barrier). Jerrie made her mark as a charter pilot, making ferry flights into countries that many men wouldn’t dare to enter. When the U.S. space program was announced, Jerrie made it her mission to push for a women’s component. Jackie wanted in on it as well, but on her terms.

This book overlaps somewhat with The Women with Silver Wings, mainly for Jackie’s story of leading the Women’s Auxiliary Service Pilots, so if you’ve read that you may have some déjà vu. However, even if you have read that book, this one is recommended as well. It’s well written and I felt it struck the right balance between Jackie and Jerrie, presenting good points and more challenging ones for both of them. I would definitely recommend this if you’re interested in reading about women in aviation or about the early space program. ( )

Classic patriarchy... tell women they can't do something and then eat your popcorn as they cat fight each other.

Honestly, neither Jerrie Cobb nor Jackie Cochran come out of this book seeming like a terribly good person, but the book is way more sympathetic to Jerrie Cobb. As a woman who does not like to take no for an answer, I can say that I definitely felt for her. I'm so glad that I was not alive during that time period. And I have had enough people tell me that my feelings were invalid as a woman in STEM because "they personally didn't feel discriminated against," which made me annoyed when Jackie Cochran stated the same things in this book.

Anyway, the history was pretty cool, and the biography interesting as well. It's been long enough since I read The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight that I couldn't remember all of what had happened. And the book was about way more than just the medical testing that the women went through.

I would have appreciated a postscript bringing us to Sally Ride. Was any of what the women in this book went through used to help get a woman astronaut into space? How did NASA go from their stance in 1960 to hiring a diverse set of astronaut candidates? I felt like I was somewhat left hanging at the end, which was kind of anticlimactic. Otherwise, recommended to anybody interested in women in STEM, NASA, aviation, and all that jazz. ( )

Shira Teitel, Amy. Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and Their Historic Battle for Female Spaceflight. 9CDs. unabridged. 11hrs. Hachette Audio. ISBN 9781549121005. $35.00.

Spaceflight historian Amy Shira Teitel tells the empowering true story of two female pilots who fought to be the first women in space. This dual biography captures the brilliant lives of Jackie Cochran and Jerrie Cobb as they trailblazed their way into the cockpit and into the hearts of millions of Americans. Both became pilots at a time in America when women should be barefoot and pregnant - certainly not setting flying records or breaking the space barrier. They fought against sexism and proved to men time and again they they belonged in the air. The dawn of the space age brought new dreams and both women longed to get into space. Jerrie Cobb took all the same tests as America's first astronauts and refused to let the matter lie. She had already proved she could be a pilot, she could prove that she was astronaut material as well. Passionately narrated by the author; who gives both young women vim and vigor; causing them to leap from the page right into the listener's imagination. This inspiring story highlights two women that challenged the social norms and used their grit and determination to prove themselves the equal of any man in the air or the the atmosphere. An impressive and awe inducing biography that space junkies, feminists, and historians will eat up! - Erin Cataldi, Johnson Co. Public Library, Franklin, IN ( )

In Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and Their Historic Battle for Female Spaceflight, Amy Shira Teitel brilliantly recounts the lives and work of Jackie Cochran and Jerrie Cobb, two pioneering women pilots whose place on the forefront of aviation naturally led them to look to space with the dawn of the Space Age. Unfortunately, they faced the same entrenched sexism that initially stymied their attempts to become pilots, though at a far greater bureaucratic level. Jackie, having worked to establish herself as a pilot, businesswoman, and leader of the WASPS in World War II, hoped to accumulate a wealth of data in support of her cause. She therefore enlisted her friend and physician Randy Lovelace, who was part of the team that tested NASA’s Mercury astronauts. The Lovelace tests replicated the same physical and psychological tests the astronauts underwent, with Jerrie undergoing the tests herself since she was determined to get into space. Despite much positive publicity, Teitel draws upon the records of then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson and NASA administrator Jim Webb to examine how NASA was struggling to find the best way to advance its lunar mission and viewed any program other than that goal as an expense of resources. Further, entrenched patriarchal views about what women’s role, if any, should be in the space program hindered their efforts from the start while political squabbling during Congressional hearings led to further setbacks. Fighting for Space is Teitel’s second book after Breaking the Chains of Gravity: The Story of Spaceflight before NASA and demonstrates her background in cultural history and the history of science as well as her ability to narrate events so that historical figures feel more present. Teitel’s work will appeal to those studying the history of science as well as readers more casually interested in spaceflight history. ( )