Gagarin: The Greatest Adventure of Mankind

Rob Van Scheers & Gustavo Garcia

AMSTERDAM, April 7, 2011 - On April 12 1961, 50 years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to
journey into outer space. Dutch publishing house Lebowski Publishers presents
the beautiful graphic novel Gagarin - The greatest adventure of mankind on
April 12 2011 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this historic event.

Cultural journalist Rob van Scheers of the Dutch magazine Elsevier wrote
the script for Gagarin, based on his personal research in Moscow and the
space launce facility Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where he discovered
many interesting facts about the astonishing journey of Yuri Gagarin. Graphic
artist Gustavo Garcia transformed Gagarin's 108 minute orbit of the earth
into compelling images. The result is a breathtaking graphic novel, that
reads like an exiting adventurebook about an extraordinary mission:
Pojechali! ('Here we go!') A sneak preview of the graphic novel can be found
on the website of Lebowski Publishers:
www.lebowskipublishers.nl/gagarin/

Early praise for Gagarin:

'Fantastic graphic novel about the beginnings of space travel, of which
many were new even for me!' Andre Kuipers, Dutch cosmonaut.

'Excellent! At last a good graphic novel about one of the greatest events
in our history!' Piet Smolders, scientific journalist. Smolders was awarded
the Gagarin Medal of Honor from the Society of Cosmonauts of the Russian
Federal Space Agency in 1986 for his work.

Special attention for the Gagarin jubilee during The London Book Fair (11
- 13 April 2011):

To mark Gagarin's voyage and as part of the Russia Market Focus cultural
programme, The London Book Fair will host a link-up to the International
Space Station where Russian cosmonauts will answer questions sent in advance
from the many participants of the London Book Fair.

www.convilleandwalsh.com/

www.lebowskipublishers.nl/

Translation rights: Literary agent Patrick Walsh, Conville & Walsh Literary Agency, Phone: +44(0)20-7287-3030, E-mail: patrick at convilleandwalsh.com; For more information about Gagarin: Publisher Oscar van Gelderen, Lebowski Publishers, Phone: +31(0)6-46-09-68-23, E-mail: oscar at lebowskipublishers.nl