Spy Pilot: Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 Incident, and a Controversial Cold War Legacy, Hardcover

Based on newly available information, the son of famed U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers presents the facts and dispels misinformation about the Cold War espionage program that turned his father into a Cold War icon.. One of the most talked-about events of the Cold War was the downing of the American U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960. The event was recently depicted in the Steven Spielberg movie Bridge of Spies. Powers was captured by the KGB, subjected to a televised show trial, and imprisoned, all of which created an international incident. Soviet authorities eventually released him in exchange for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. On his return to the United States, Powers was exonerated of any wrongdoing while imprisoned in Russia, yet, due to bad press and the government's unwillingness to heartily defend Powers, a cloud of controversy lingered until his untimely death in 1977. Now his son, Francis Gary Powers Jr. and acclaimed historian Keith Dunnavant have written this new account of Powers's life based on personal files that had never been previously available. Delving into old audio tapes, letters his father wrote and received while imprisoned in the Soviet Union, the transcript of his father's debriefing by the CIA, other recently declassified documents about the U-2 program, and interviews with the spy pilot's contemporaries, Powers and Dunnavant set the record straight. The result is a fascinating piece of Cold War history. This is also a book about a son's journey to understand his father, pursuing justice and a measure of peace. Almost sixty years after the fact, this will be the definitive account of one of the most important events of the Cold War.

Francis Gary Powers Jr. is the founder and chairman emeritus of the Cold War Museum, a 501(c) (3) charity in Vint Hill, Virginia, near Washington, DC. As chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Cold War Theme Study, he works with the National Park Service and leading Cold War experts to identify historic Cold War sites for commemoration, interpretion, and preservation. He served as a consultant to Steven Spielberg's Cold War thriller, Bridge of Spies. He lectures internationally and appears regularly on the History, Discovery, and A&E channels.

Keith Dunnavant is the author of seven books, including definitive biographies of Joe Montana, Bart Starr, and Paul "Bear" Bryant. The founder of Solovox Publishing and a former editor of Adweek Magazines' Special Report and contributor to BusinessWeek, Dunnavant has led award-winning editorial teams covering media, sports, lifestyle, and politics; directed the civil rights documentary Three Days at Foster; and covered college football for The National. He has been a featured historian on ESPN, CBS, HBO, and Showtime.