Jacques Villain’s _Mir_ follows the space station from its launch-era promise through the final phase of its life in orbit, covering the period 1986–2001. Written for readers interested in the history of spaceflight, the book presents Mir as a major episode in late twentieth-century exploration: a laboratory in low Earth orbit, a symbol of Soviet and then Russian space capability, and a precursor to later international cooperation aboard orbital stations. Its focus is the station’s operational history rather than technical manual detail, tracing how Mir extended human presence in space and how its mission came to an end at the turn of the century. The volume offers a concise French-language account for general readers, useful as an introduction to the broader historical context surrounding one of the most important habitats ever placed in orbit.