Review: Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly

I read this book mainly because I was interested in the movie, and if at all possible I do like to read the book before seeing the movie. 

This book is about a number of black women in the USA, coming of age in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and having to fight tooth and nail to transcend the barriers between them and their dream. At this time in the USA racial segregation was still a thing and these women had to fight to be take seriously, not only because they were women, but because they were black. Their immense talent helped them some of the way and hard work took them even further. 

We follow their struggles to rise within the hierarchy at NASA ,set against the backdrop of World War II, the Space Race and the Civil Rights Movement. Shetterly intertwined history with the women’s personal stories of growth and development and for the most part this book read like fiction. I had never really heard of the black women mathematicians at NASA before, so this was an education for me and an interesting one at that. Anyone who is interested in the Civil Rights Movement, the Space Race, NASA, feminism (and perhaps especially intersectional feminism) and US history should have an interest in this book. 

I gave this book 4 stars out of 5 simply because I always struggle to keep track of the many names and dates when authors jump back and forth in time.