Buzz Aldrin

Buzz Aldrin is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot who was the second person to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969. Born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr. in 1930 in Montclair, New Jersey, he graduated from West Point, flew combat missions in the Korean War and earned a doctorate in astronautics from MIT before being selected as a NASA astronaut. Magnificent Desolation is his memoir, taking its title from his famous first words on the lunar surface. The book covers not only the historic Moon landing but also the difficult years that followed — the depression, alcoholism and personal struggles he faced after returning to Earth, and his journey toward recovery and renewed purpose. It is a remarkably honest account of what happens when you've achieved the pinnacle of human experience and have to figure out what comes next. Available as both a book and an audiobook, Magnificent Desolation offers extraordinary listening and reading — the story of one of humanity's greatest achievements, told with the unflinching honesty of a man who walked on the Moon and then had to learn to walk on Earth again.