Zeldovich, Ya. B., Novikov, I. D. Relativistic Astrophysics (Relyativistskaya astrofizika), 1967. In Russian

Зельдович Я. Б., Новиков И. Д. Релятивистская астрофизика.
Москва : Наука, Главная редакция физико-математической литературы, 1967.
656 с., ил. Твёрдый издательский переплёт, увеличенный формат. Тираж 5500 экз.
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Zeldovich, Ya. B., Novikov, I. D. Relativistic Astrophysics (Relyativistskaya astrofizika).
Moscow : Nauka, Main Editorial Office for Physics and Mathematics Literature, 1967.
656 pp., illustrated. Publisher’s cloth with original dust jacket, enlarged format. Print run: 5,500 copies.

This 1967 volume is a monumental landmark in the history of science: the world’s first monograph dedicated to relativistic astrophysics and modern cosmology. Written by the legendary Yakov Zeldovich and Igor Novikov, this book defined the field at a time when the general theory of relativity was transitioning from a purely mathematical pursuit into a vital tool for understanding the universe. It remains one of the most cited and influential works in the annals of 20th-century physics.
The book is historically famous for providing the first systematic treatment of gravitational collapse and the then-exotic objects we now call black holes. Even more remarkably, Zeldovich and Novikov used these pages to predict the existence of cosmic microwave background radiation (relic radiation) as a necessary consequence of the "Hot Big Bang" model—a prediction made just two years before the Nobel Prize-winning discovery by Penzias and Wilson.
Within its 656 pages, the authors explore the dynamics of expanding universes, the physics of superdense matter, and the mechanisms behind quasars and neutron stars. Their approach combined rigorous General Relativity with the intuitive "physical sense" that Zeldovich was famous for. This 1967 edition, especially when found with its original dust jacket, is a premier bibliographical rarity. It represents the pinnacle of the Soviet school of astrophysics and is a foundational document for any collection focused on cosmology, space exploration, or the evolution of modern scientific thought.