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The names of the seven Mercury astronauts were announced in April 1959 amid a flurry of publicity and patriotism. This work provides authorized biographical details of all thirty-two finalists for the seven coveted places as America´s pioneering astronauts.

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Foreword by Michael Cassutt.- Preface.- Chapter 1: Sailing In and Out of War.- Chapter 2: The Call Goes Out.- Chapter 3: Narrowing the Field.- Chapter 4: The Finalists.- Chapter 5: A Man from Tennessee.- Chapter 6: Phase Three -The Lovelace Clinic, New Mexico.- Chapter 7: Wright-Patterson - The Final Hurdle.- Chapter 8: The Selection.- Chapter 9: Back in Contention.- Chapter 10: The Mercury Astronauts

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From the reviews:
"The author chronicles the testing/selection process of the candidates and includes brief biographies of the finalists. ... The book presents more extensive biographies of the entire careers of the Mercury Seven astronauts along with photographs of historical importance. Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduate students and general readers." (J. Z. Kiss, Choice, Vol. 49 (6), February, 2012)

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Colin Burgess´ first book ("The Diggers of Colditz") was published in 1985. Since that time he has had twenty-three non-fiction books published in Australia and overseas, which includes three co-authored books for Springer-Praxis. With only a few exceptions, all of his published books within the last fifteen years have been on spaceflight. Since 2003 Colin has been the series editor and sometimes author for the Outward Odyssey series of twelve books for the University of Nebraska Press (UNP). Two of his co-authored spaceflight books for this publisher, "Into That Silent Sea" and "In the Shadow of the Moon," were finalists for the 2007 Eugene M. Emme Award for Astronautical Literature, given by the American Astronomical Society. "In the Shadow of the Moon" was also named as "2009 Outstanding Academic Title" by Choice Magazine.

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