When We Left Earth (07): The Once and Future Moon

Paul D. Spudis; The Once and Future Moon (Smithsonian Institute Press; 1996; ISBN 1-56098-847-9; cover not credited).

If Don Wilhelms wrote the bible for lunar geology, then Paul Spudis inherited the position of pope of lunar geology, or so I have been told. This relatively slim volume is a "popular" level look at the history of lunar exploration, what we know about the Moon, and what we can do with the Moon. It doesn't quite make the "essentials" level, but it is a tad short. I'm hoping that Spudis, who has been involved in pushing NASA back to the Moon for the past several years, comes out with a more technical/detailed book in the near future.