The book, Soviet SST: The Techno-Politics Of The Tupolev-144 tells the fascinating story of how the former Soviet Union designed, built and flew the supersonic Tupolev-144.  The former Soviet Union began design work for a supersonic transport in the early 1960s hard on the-heals of their many early “firsts” in space flight.  From the beginning, the leadership of the former Soviet Union wanted to demonstrate and in fact achieve technological parity with the West through their technological development of various aircraft designs.  In a similar vein to the space race that took place during the 1960s between the Soviet Union and the United States Of America (U.S.A.), the Soviet Union leadership felt it politically necessary to compete with the U.S.A., as well as, the English and French in the arena of supersonic commercial aviation.  By the early 1970s, the U.S.A. had dropped out of this competitive effort leaving the field open for the Anglo/French “Concorde” and the Soviet Union’s SST program.  While the Tu-144 flew before the Concorde, the program suffered two separate fatal crashes and was withdrawn from regular service in 1978.  The Tu-144 aircraft continued to be used for cargo transport and research purposes until the remaining aircraft were finally retired in 1984.  In the end, the Tu-144 only made 55 commercial flights while the Concord flew for approximately two decades carrying thousands of passengers between Europe and North America.  “Soviet SST: The Techno-Politics Of The Tupolev-144” concentrates on the political ups and downs of the former Soviet Union’s leading aircraft designer, Andrei N. Tupolev and his relationship to his political benefactor Nikita Khrushchev who sought spectacular technical achievements in order to use them as a big stick against the “West”.  This behind-the-scenes look at the Soviet Union’s efforts to develop a supersonic commercial transport represents one of the few political and technical analyses of the project.  In this comprehensive review of the entire Tu-144 program, “Soviet SST: The Techno-Politics Of The Tupolev-144“ reveals a wealth of information about the former Soviet Union’s values, operating patterns, resource-allocation decisions and foreign relations between the then two superpowers.  The major sections of “Soviet SST: The Techno-Politics Of The Tupolev-144” are as follows: 1) Foreword; 2) Introduction: Piecing Together The Story; 3) Chapter 1 – Andrei Tupolev And The Soviet State; 4) Chapter 2 – Premonitions: The Soviet Path To The SST, 1951-1965; 5) Chapter 3 – Soviet Leaks And Western Speculations, 1965-1968; 6) Chapter 4 – “Konkorski”: Myths And Realities Of SST Espionage; 7) Chapter 5 – 1969: Year Of Wonder; 8) Chapter 6 – Unresolved Problems: The Soviets At The Technological Frontier; 9) Chapter 7 – Wings Of Great Hopes; 10) Chapter 8 – Redesign And Disaster, 1972-1973; 11) Chapter 9 – Falling Behind, 1973-1975; 12) Chapter 10 – The Struggle To Enter Service, 1975-1977; 13) Chapter 11 – Twilight and Legacy, 1977-1984; 14) Chapter 12 – Magnificent Failure: How Did It Happen?; 15) Appendix: TU-144 Production; 16) Notes; 17) Glossary: A Guide To Soviet And Aviation Technical Terms; 18) Sources; 19) Acknowledgements and 20) Index.  In addition to an informative narrative, “Soviet SST: The Techno-Politics Of The Tupolev-144” includes the following features: 1) Approximately 44 black and white photographs and 2) About 10 black and white illustrations.  “Soviet SST: The Techno-Politics Of The Tupolev-144” is sure to appeal to aircraft specialists, aviation historians and students of technology, as well as, anyone interested in the inner political workings of the former Soviet Union.  This book is 276 pages and is in excellent condition.  The author is Howard Moon.  Edition published in 1989.