"An interesting and insightful book about Soviet culture in the early Space Age of the late 1950s and 1960s. . . . Pictures do matter, and the contradictions of Soviet politics and ideology are made clear in Picturing the Cosmos. It is a good book, offering a different look at Soviet policy in the USSR’s Golden Age of space achievement."

Isis: a Journal of the History of Science Society

"The radical political and even metaphysical ambitions of the Soviet space effort generated contentious debates in Soviet visual culture between the 1950s and 80s, as is documented by Iina Kohonen in close and loving detail."

Times Literary Supplement

"The book examines how visual media served to construct an overarching heroic mythos of the conquering Soviet man, bravely exploring the depths of space, for the glory of the USSR and all mankind, and how that narrative was crafted to emphasize the values that Soviet leaders wanted to instill in their citizenry — while hiding uncomfortable realities and preventing attitudes at odds with the official line."

Undark

"A fascinating journey into the visual history of the early years of Soviet space travel. Based on a thorough analysis of illustrated stories published in the popular magazine Ogonek, paintings by cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov and other artists, films as well as archival material, the book examines in detail the various visualization strategies of the kosmicheskaya era."

Slavic Review

"This beautifully illustrated book provides compelling insight into the construction of the cosmonauts as idealised heroes of the Soviet Union...and shows the role that cosmic images played in the making of modernity." 

LSE Review of Books

"One of the first comprehensive studies of the imagery produced on the space exploration and its coverage in Soviet media. . . . An important visual-historical study of the representation of space in the Soviet Union, and significant in its attempt to decipher political messages of conquering nature with science and technology tools, designed and operated by Soviet citizens. . . . Picturing the Cosmos provides a useful introduction to understanding the media representations of space exploration in the Soviet Union and is an important staging-post on the route for understanding the highly relevant topic of ‘out of sight’ experiences entering the material world and every day life of common citizens. The book is an easy read and visual-historical approach allows for some fascinating insights."

Visual Studies