China's rocket heroes' story gets an English edition

China's national spirit has become a focus of publishing recently.

The Untold Story of China's First A-Bomb, H-Bomb and Orbiting Satellite, written by veteran journalist Dong Sheng－the pen name for 89-year-old Li Xiangyi－about the "Two-Bombs and One Satellite" triumph, is being translated into English by Foreign Language Press and is set for publication in 2019.

"Dong Sheng is a friend in real life to many of the heroes who completed the feat. His perspective is valuable for the book," Cao Yun, the editor of the book, tells China Daily.

Cao says the book is such a passionate retelling of the story that readers will brim with pride.

"I'm also amazed by how the heroes' family members supported them wholeheartedly," she says.

The book is an abridged version of the three-volume Chinese original. Dong Sheng edited the text himself to offer an essence of the long journey to English-language readers around the world.

"The project itself was a representation of the country's national strength. Its final realization, as the book shows, is the result of Chinese peoples' spirit that runs in its nation's veins: to not fear hardship and to have the courage to invent and create," Hu Kaimin, deputy editor-in-chief, says.

"It offers to the global audience the material to better understand China's national spirit and the nation's current path of development."

To a Peking University graduate surnamed Song, who majored in nuclear physics and is currently working as a nuclear safety inspector, the stories of Qian Xuesen and Deng Jiaxian are about how talented people have devoted all they have to the country they love.