This book was published over a year ago. I thought it would be useful to share with you some of the corrections and comments I have received. Naturally, if you are aware of others please drop me a line.
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P7: Korloev died in 1966 not in 1967 as stated on p17. Thanks Dave Shayler
P41: “On his own visit to Cuba in 1965, Leonov met Hemingway and personally told him that this novel had been a favourite of Gagarin’s” This is Leonov’s account from his jointly authored book Scott, D. & A. Leonov: Two Sides of the Moon, 2004, p39. But it cannot be so – Hemingway died in 1961. Thanks Michael Cassutt
P85: The picture of the cenotaph in Manchester is not the cenotaph in Manchester but he one in London. Apparently the picture form 1961 had been erroneously labeled back then. It has since been corrected by Ria Novosti. Thanks Francis French (see post from Facebook replicated below)
P101: I imply Dr Alexander Martynov is a cosmonaut. That is not so. He is a space scientist and frequently tours alongside other cosmonauts. Thanks Francis French
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Tale of two cenotaphs Originally posted on Facebook 26th September 2012
During his day trip to Manchester, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin stopped by to lay a wreath at the cenotaph in St Peters Square which just a couple of hundred meters from the Town Hall, his final stop in Manchester. Or that is what I thought and said so on page 85 in my book “Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester”.
During my research all my conversations with Mancunians who saw or met Gagarin in 1961 – no one could recall his stop at the cenotaph. But that did not matter, I had a photo from Rainovosti clearly capturing that moment in a labelled and dated picture.
During his recent trip “back home” to Manchester, Francis French stopped by at the cenotaph at St Peters Square. He compared the actual cenotaph with that in the picture and concluded that the one depicted in the picture was not the cenotaph in Manchester.
As I describe on page 116, in between his meeting with the Prime Minister and visiting the air ministry on Whitehall, Gagarin stopped by the cenotaph which was very much on his route. I have looked at images of the cenotaph in London and it appears that the one depicted in the picture (and my book) is the cenotaph in London.
I contacted Rianovosti and they have already amended the description http://visualrian.ru/en/site/gallery/#899166. I will do likewise in the ebook version of my book. Thanks to Francis “Sherlock” French, the story of Gagarin’s visit to the UK is now a little more accurate.
