Escape from Earth

Escape from Earth: A Secret History of the Space Rocket by Fraser MacDonald

Frank Malina was integral to research in rocketry. He also sympathized with the communists. This lead to all sorts of problems, including his contributions being overlooked. The book covers the work in the Jet Propulsion Lab, founding of Aerojet and the red scare McCarthyism. Many of the researchers were blacklisted due to perceived association with the communists. There was also a Chinese researcher who was caught in a weird state of limbo, being chased out, but not permitted to leave. The first part of the book focuses on the "boys club" of rocket research in Pasadena, while the second part is more tied to the communist hunt. It is also interesting to read about how the author stumbled on to this topic after finding an area that was forbidden from entry.