'Star Trek Federation: The First 150 Years' book review

Star Trek Federation: The First 150 Years is a history book written from an ‘in-universe’ perspective which, coupled with its thickness and polished presentation, gives you the sensation of picking up a school textbook that’s fallen through time and fiction.

Excerpts from Starfleet records, historical documents, ships logs, and a multitude of alien communiques are all collected together, strung on a timeline of the first 150 years of galactic democracy and charted by author and space-Schama David A. Goodman (whose writing credits include Star Trek: Enterprise, and the Trek lampooning Futurama episode ‘Where No Fan Has Gone Before’).

It’s a book that triumphs as a distillation of canon knowledge into an understandable chronology of events. Beginning with First Contact in 2063 (also important for being Doctor Who‘s 100th anniversary, but there’s obviously no mention of that as The Moff’s got it tight under wraps) right through to the Khitomer Accord seen at the end of Star Trek VI, not one Tribble is left unturned as the tumultuous geo-politics of space are outlined. Such is the wealth of information that even the hardcore fan will find uncharted areas to be schooled in.

It being a historical record (and on paper rather than a PADD no less, how archaic!), a few more illustrations or images wouldn’t have gone amiss – as much to bring life to the rich lore of the Alpha Quadrant as to break up the intimidating layout of the information-rich text. The paintings present have the static feel of a primary school textbook on the Vikings rather than capturing the historic thrust that Goodman’s quasi-academic tone harnesses.

A formidable level of passion and dedication, of the kind that few shows can inspire, has been applied in compiling this book. It’s a thoroughly comprehensive history, but just as importantly, it’s a record of a community’s devotion to a franchise boldly going toward its 50th year.