In this eagerly anticipated book, renowned space historian and author David Baker turns his attention to the Saturn I and IB rockets. Although considered as merely a 'stepping stone' from the Mercury and Gemini programs to the mighty Saturn V and the Apollo missions that put the first humans on the Moon, the Saturn I and IB rockets actually played a far more significant role in NASA's manned space effort. As the first American 'heavy lift' rocket , Wernher von Braun's Saturn I traced its lineage right back to his WWII V2 rocket, through Redstone to the Jupiter and Juno projects that lead to the Saturn vehicles. In describing this often-overlooked historical background, the story of the transition of the space program from the US Army to the (then) newly-formed NASA, and the evolution from launching men and satellites on modified missiles, to flying purpose-built space rockets, is also uncovered. The first Saturn I flew in 1961 and it remained in service until 1975, flying the first manned Apollo mission, testing stages for the Moon flights and launching 'Skylab' astronauts among other accomplishments. Illustrated throughout with NASA technical drawings and photographs, many previously unpublished, this absorbing book also includes a description of each mission flown by the Saturn I and IB. Although considered as merely a "stepping stone" from the Mercury and Gemini programs to the mighty Saturn V and the Apollo missions that put the first humans on the Moon, the Saturn I and IB rockets actually played a far more significant role in NASA’s manned space effort. The Saturn I and IB rockets were key to success in the Apollo Moon program, developing many of the technologies used in that endeavor and flying the first and the last manned Apollo spacecraft. They were built on the successful development of the Redstone and Jupiter missiles which had their origin in the German A-4 (V2) missile of the Second World War. This is the encompassing story of that evolution with detailed technical, engineering, industrial and political input plus a highly detailed account of each flight. David Baker is an aerospace historian, consultant and writer. He has worked with NASA and the US Air Force on several projects and in 1984 set up a space consultancy in London with an office in the USA, supporting commercial space activities. David has received several awards including the Rolls-Royce Award for Best Propulsion Submission, RAeS Aerospace Journalist of the Year in 1998 , was a recipient of the Arthur C Clarke Award 2006 and in 2017 received the American Astronautical Society’s Frederick I Ordway III award for “sustained excellence in space coverage, through books and articles, as well as engagement in the early US Space Program.”