Gagarin was the first human to reach space, on the 12 April 1961. This memoir appeared only a few months after his space-flight. With a foreword by Nikolaj Kamanin (1808-82), head of cosmonaut training in the Soviet space programme and the man who made the final selection of Gagarin, the book tells the story of the modest young man from humble beginnings, and his path from a war-torn Russia, through his work as a mechanic and later an aviator, to his epoch making journey into space. He inscribed this copy - with the words “To the vice- chairman in the Denmark-Soviet Union Society Mr Jensen and his wife with respect, Gagarin” (translation) - to Alfred Jensen (1903-1988), a member of the Danish Communist Party and its leader during the years of Nazi occupation. In 1952 Jensen married Ragnhild Andersen, and it is her address label that appears beneath the inscription. Jensen and Ragnhild remained loyal to Moscow when the Danish Communist Party, under its leader Aksel Larsen, distanced itself from the Soviet Union; their meeting with Gagarin, and the inscribed copy of his book, might be regarded as a reward for their loyalty.