Book excerpt: Hubble Deep Field and the Distant Universe describes this watershed event in the history of astronomy. Aimed at an audience including amateur astronomers, science historians, researchers, HST aficionados and students interested in science, this book recounts the development of space astronomy, the progression of decisions and events that led to the distant universe exploration of Williams and the Hubble Deep Field team, and it describes the momentous image that has enabled astronomers to piece together the evolution of the largest structures in the universe.