In Conversation with Adam Higginbotham, award-winning author of "Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space" (Simon & Schuster)

Zoom at: https://csusb.zoom.us/j/388207496

Join us in conversation with award-winning author, Adam Higginbotham, discussing his book, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space (Simon & Schuster, 2024), newly released in paperback (2026). We will have copies of the book for virtual attendees while supplies last!

• Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction • Winner of the Kirkus Nonfiction Prize • Shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction • A New York Times Notable Book
• NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Stunning…A heart-pounding thriller…Challenger is a remarkable book.” —The Atlantic • “Devastating…A universal story that transcends time.” —The New York Times • “Dramatic…a moving narrative.” —The Wall Street Journal
• From the New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in Chernobyl comes the definitive, “compelling, and exhaustively researched” (The Washington Post) minute-by-minute account of the Challenger disaster, based on fascinating and new archival research—a riveting history that reads like a thriller.

From the publisher's website: "On January 28, 1986, just seventy-three seconds into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board. Millions of Americans witnessed the tragic deaths of the crew, which included New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Like the assassination of JFK, the Challenger disaster is a defining moment in 20th-century history—one that forever changed the way America thought of itself and its optimistic view of the future. Yet the full story of what happened, and why, has never been told." Find a further description, a reading guide, and more at the publisher's website.

From Higginbotham's author website: "Adam Higginbotham is the author of Midnight in Chernobyl, winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and one of the New York Times’ Ten Best Books of 2019. His latest book, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, was published by Avid Reader Press in May 2024. An immediate New York Times bestseller, Challenger is the winner of the 2024 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction and the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction."

Find the History Department homepage here, and contact Jeremy Murray with any questions (jmurray@csusb.edu).