Francis Gary Powers served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force and completed 27 U-2 photographic reconnaissance missions for the CIA, including several overflights of the Soviet Union, until shot down in 1960. Upon his return to the United States in 1962, he flew the U-2 as an engineering test pilot for Lockheed Aircraft. Powers died in a helicopter crash in 1977.
"A glimpse into a shadowy world where half-truths, lies, blunders,
and cover-ups are accepted realities . . . . Possibly the most
unsettling moment in the book is the discussion of the CIA's
relative independence, even of the President."--New York Times Book
Review
"Powers seems the epitome of the spy in his very interesting
chronicle. The story he writes is immensely personal, filled at
various times with pride, fears, and misgivings."--Library
Journal
"The decision to send a U-2 over Russia just before a summit
convergence was, the author believes, a bungle by American
intelligence for which he was made, to a limited extent, the
scapegoat . . . . Powers's book is interesting all by itself, and
it joins the roster of works that have been raising an exasperating
problem: How can an open society cope with secret agencies, its own
or anybody else's?"--The New Yorker
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