Review (PDF) Star Trek: The Complete Unauthorized History
This is the first book to combine an authoritative history of the Star Trek franchise—including all six television series and eleven feature films—with anecdotes about the show from those who helped shape it from the outside in: the fans. Star Trek expert Robert Greenberger covers everything from show creator Gene Roddenberry’s initial plans for a series combining science-fiction and Western elements, the premiere of the original series in 1966, its cancellation, the franchise’s return in an animated series, and its subsequent history on television and film, up to expectations for the 2013 J.J. Abrams film. Along the way, Greenberger analyzes Star Trek’s unique cultural impact and tremendous cult following, including the famous (and first ever) save-the-show mail campaign. But this isn't a sugarcoated history; this book chronicles the missteps as well as the achievements of Roddenberry and others behind the franchise. Approximately two dozen sidebars provide personal experiences of dedicated Trekkies who influenced or became a part of the franchise. Star Trek fandom is unparalleled in the effects it has had on the franchise itself. The book is illustrated with a large collection of photographs of memorabilia, many of which have never been seen before in print.
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Voyageur Press; First edition (November 8, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0760343594
ISBN-13: 978-0760343593
Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 1 x 11.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #100,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #23 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Television > Reference #55 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Movies > Video > Reference #65 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Movies > Reference
Hardcore STAR TREK fans watching the final episode of the original series on June 3, 1969 felt they were witnessing the end of a dream. Despite the efforts of devoted fans, STAR TREK was no more, crashing and burning after only three years on the air. Yet, 43 years and 11 feature films, five TV series, dozens of ST novels and tons of merchandise later, STAR TREK is stronger than ever. Robert Greenberger, who has penned several ST novels, and Voyageur Press combine talents to present this comprehensive, nicely-illustrated guide to one of the most successful media franchises in history.Greenberger's book is subtitled THE COMPLETE UNAUTHORIZED HISTORY which translates as follows: it's a warts-and-all chronicle to all things STAR TREK. So, readers will discover - if they don't know already - that Gene Roddenberry wasn't all that great of a guy, ditto Bill Shatner, STAR TREK - THE MOTION PICTURE sucked as did VOYAGER, etc. If you're new to the ST world, Greenberger's book will have much material of interest; long-time fans, less so.Where the "Unauthorized" status most impacts is the illustrations found in the book. The verso of the title page includes the statement that "This publication has not been prepared, approved or licensed by CBS Television Studios, Paramount Pictures or the Roddenberry Estate." So, while the book features tons of pix of ST merchandise, ST convention shots, etc., there are almost NO production shots of any of the TV shows or films. To my mind, that omission hurts big time.Greenberger runs through the franchise's history chronologically. His first chapter is entitled: 'Gene Roddenberry's Dream;' the last, 'STAR TREK'S Future.
Star Trek: The Complete Unauthorized History by Robert Greenberger is a long book. A really long book.As a Trekkie, I enjoyed it and learned a lot of the behind the scenes of Gene Roddenberry`s life with Star Trek. I've read many books on Star Trek's history and this one gave a lot of detail into the history of how Star Trek was created, Gene's life during the series, all the seasons of The Original Series and the shows following (The Next Generation, Voyager, Deep Space Nine, Enterprise) and of course - the fans.STAR TREK HISTORYIt gives a pretty good detail on Roddenberry's vision of Star Trek and how it came to light. Like other Star Trek books, it talked about his pitch to the networks and the success and failures with the series. But this book does discuss the "other" side of Gene Roddenberry. This was the first book I've read that showed Roddenberry's dark side. The other Trek books - unless it was his unauthorized biography - did not discuss Roddenberry's extramarital affairs and conflicts with his crew and colleagues.The book mainly focuses on The Original Series and smaller chapters regarding the other branches - The Next Generation, Voyager, DS9 and Enterprise. It even mentions a chapter on the reboot by J.J. Abrams - including a small section regarding Star Trek Into Darkness. The book gave light on the difficulties the series had - the cast, crew, writers, producers, etc. A lot of the information has been mentioned in other Trek books and biographies of the cast/crew, but they did have snippets of information that I was not aware of before.STAR TREK IMAGESThere were a lot of pictures in this book. I felt that it was a bit too much and some seemed misplaced.
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