The Province of All Mankind

<p><b><i>The Province of All Mankind</i></b><b> is the story of a powerful idea about the cosmos. </b>Born in the science-fiction literature of the nineteenth century and maturing in the Age of Apollo, this idea held that outer space should be preserved as a "sanctuary" from human strife, free from weapons, warfare, and political rivalry. If humanity could somehow leave violence behind as it moved into space, perhaps peace would finally reign. </p> <p>Bucking a half-century of "space race" scholarship, Stephen Buono argues that despite waging a totalizing Cold War, the United States achieved stunning diplomatic successes that heralded the cosmos as a realm of peace and cooperation. The early story of space politics is not primarily one of militarization, but rather of political prescience and restraint. <i>The Province of All Mankind</i> demonstrates that space became a unique domain of American foreign relations and international law, and provides lessons for the Second Cold War unfolding over the horizon.</p>