The Province of All Mankind explores the history of a powerful idea that took shape across the twentieth century. The cosmos, for its potential to reform peoples and nations in the heat of scientific discovery, should be preserved as a "sanctuary" from weapons, warfare, and political rivalry. If humanity could somehow leave violence behind as it moved into space, perhaps peace would finally reign. Stephen Buono probes that utopian suggestion, from its genesis in science fiction to its stunning political manifestations in the Age of Apollo.

Bucking a half-century of "space race" scholarship, Buono argues that despite waging a totalizing Cold War, the United States achieved stunning diplomatic successes that heralded the cosmos as a realm of peace and cooperation. The early story of space politics is not primarily one of militarization, but rather of political prescience and restraint. The Province of All Mankind demonstrates that space became a unique domain of American foreign relations and international law, and provides lessons for the Second Cold War unfolding over the horizon.