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  • Hidden Figures

  • The Untold Story of the African-American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race
  • By: Margot Lee Shetterly
  • Narrated by: Robin Miles
  • Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (302 ratings)
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Hidden Figures cover art

Hidden Figures

By: Margot Lee Shetterly
Narrated by: Robin Miles
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Summary

One of AudioFile Magazine's Best Audiobooks of 2016.

Soon to be a major motion picture.

Before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of professionals worked as 'Human Computers', calculating the flight paths that would enable these historic achievements. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women. Segregated from their white counterparts, these 'colored computers' used pencil and paper to write the equations that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space.

Moving from World War II through NASA's golden age, touching on the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the women's rights movement, 'Hidden Figures' interweaves a rich history of mankind's greatest adventure with the intimate stories of five courageous women whose work forever changed the world.

©2016 Margot Lee Shetterly (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about Hidden Figures

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

How did I not know about these women?

This book details the struggles and determination of a group of black women to be recognised for their worth. Brilliant mathematicians, they were housed in their own department and endured humiliating segregation socially despite working alongside white male colleagues.

What's really interesting about this book is that it examines the impact of the women becoming successful- good and bad.

The narrative is provided warmly but the underlying steel of the book shines through the narration and it beautifully brings the story to life.
Highly recommended

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A book of biographies?

I found this audio book to be a laudible, well-researched series of biographies of mid-century African-American women and American civil history.

Unfortunately I am a literary dullard with a short span of attention. I was simply hoping for a cracking good listen about African American women and their involvement in the Space-race.
After 2 hours listening to the biographies, delivered by Robin Miles in a low-key narration style, sadly I gave up.
I really wanted to enjoy this audiobook, but lost enthusiasm to invest more time trying.

Sorry Ms Miles.

Lovers of biographies will enjoy and be fully engaged by this book.

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11 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

So much more than the film

I'm so glad that I watched the film first, otherwise it would have been a total disappointment. The book is extensive, and the story of the film seems quite different to the truth. The bare bones are the same: a trio of remarkable women broke boundaries in both gender and race to be part of one of the most historic events in US and even world history - the space race.

Before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of professionals worked as ‘Human Computers’, calculating the flight paths by hand that would enable these historic achievements. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women. Forget Silicon Valley's misogynistic climate - women were the original engineers and mathematicians.

The book is awash with interesting stories of extraordinary people working in a time of segregation and all pervasive racism. It has multiple layers that delve into each character, and gives a comprehensive context into these women's lives. It basically fills in the gaps of the film, but also changes the timeline considerably as Katherine Johnson was much younger than her colleague Dorothy Vaughan. Nevertheles, an extraordinary read and a great tribute to these invisible women.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Never seemed to get started

Struggled to finish this. I loved the film and this really dissapointed me. It just didn't seem to get started and I had listened to 2 hours.
The reader was clear but I didn't find it engaging. It might be the book or the reader. I am not sure.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

very slow plot. more history then adventure.

struggled to finish. lots of names. factual. not engaging. there was so much potential, and I was expecting a lot.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A wonderful example to the young women of this world

I absolutely adore this book , it is a wonderful example to all the women of the world that no matter what your skin colour, family background or age you can achieve whatever you want in this world if you just work hard enough and believe. Us girls are amazing !

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great story, badly written

A great story about some amazing women which is incredibly dully told. The writer rarely brings these women's stories to life. The narrator was very poor too.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Unfocused

This is a thoroughly researched book that tells an important story. For that reason I wish I could recommend it more.
If you've seen the film you'll know what it's about: the significant role black women played in the space programme despite the prejudice against both their skin colour and their gender. Prior to the publication of this book, and the release of the film, their contribution was largely forgotten or unknown, even by people like myself who are interested in space travel.
So what's wrong with the book?
To my mind, it's the structure that lets it down. We're just told facts, dry facts and lots of 'em. And so many names! The film focuses on three key women, but in the book the names of the main characters are lost among the minor players. There's some moving about in time too, so that it's quite hard to follow, especially as an audio book. It's not helped by the narrator's monotone, which makes the story fall quite flat at times.
If I'd been editor I'd have given chapter titles that clue us in to the purpose of the chapter. Let us know whether a chapter is focused on Katherine Johnson, or Mary Jackson, or relevant historical events, or technological developments at the time, or whatever. This could make the book much more accessible without having to dumb it down.
Don't get me wrong, it's not all dull and worthy. There are breathtaking moments, such as the appearance of Sputnik, John Glenn's precarious landing and so on. Also, the author is not in any way trying to make readers/listeners feel guilty for being white and/or male, and in fact there are heart-warming moments when friendships form that look beyond colour or gender.
At the end of the day, getting through this book is more of an effort than it should be, but is nevertheless worth the effort.
I will probably listen to the book again, or perhaps read a print version. I'll also watch the film again, even though I now know it takes a few liberties with history.

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2 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Dry

This is really dry. Not so much a story as a historical recount. Shame. And the lady reading the Audible version sounds a bit robotic.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Black Women Rock

This is an amazing account of how a group of African Americans took charge of some of the key parts of NASA's space program. It demonstrates that without these unsung heroes, the sung heroes would have got nowhere or if they had got anywhere have ended in early graves. While the film shows the battle to be accepted as engineers, this gives the battle to be accepted as humans indeed as the exceptionally brilliant and talented humans they were. Just one tiny step in the seemingly endless march towards the status that is owed the African American.

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1 person found this helpful