MONTE REEL is the author of two previous books, Between Man and Beast and The Last of the Tribe. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Harper's, and other magazines. He currently writes for Bloomberg Businessweek as part of its Projects & Investigations staff, and previously was a foreign correspondent for The Washington Post. He lives in Illinois.
"A Brotherhood of Spies is an old-fashioned tale of the American
ingenuity, resourcefulness and grit that remade intelligence
gathering . . . Casts intriguing light on this familiar history.
The rock-steady, nuanced leadership of Ike and JFK in these crises,
supported by deeply experienced advisers desperately seeking to
avert nuclear war, is a sobering contrast to today's White House
melodramas."
--Edward Kosner, Wall Street Journal "[A] fresh and fascinating
life to an oft-told story by concentrating on the four men who were
instrumental in the U-2 story."
--The Washington Times "A brilliant investigation into one of the
most important--and least examined--milestones of the Cold War.
With a novelist's eye for the telling detail, Monte Reel gets into
the minds of the remarkably small group of men who masterminded the
top-secret U-2 spy plane program, and their coldblooded calculation
that, in the event of a mishap, no pilot should survive to tell of
it. At the book's core is the deeply poignant story of Francis Gary
Powers, the man who against all odds did survive, and how he and
his wife, Barbara, became pawns in an international political chess
game. A wonderful read."
--Scott Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of Lawrence in
Arabia "The story of an amazing bird, the U-2 spy plane, soaring to
the heavens, and the men who built and flew her, a triumph of
ingenuity and daring on the frontier of the Cold War. Monte Reel
brings power and verve to an unforgettable drama."
--David E. Hoffman, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of the
New York Times bestseller The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of
Cold War Espionage and Betrayal "A classic Cold War tale of human
bravery, technological bravado, and political skullduggery. Monte
Reel tells the story with brio and empathy, marshaling a colorful
cast of characters as brilliant--and flawed--as the extraordinary
spy plane that changed their lives, for both better and worse. He
guides the reader expertly through a once-top-secret labyrinth
where noble ends were invoked to justify ignoble means and daring
and deceit became inextricably intertwined. Highly
recommended!"
--Michael Dobbs, author of One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy,
Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War "High above the
grey clouds of the Cold War, Monte Reel has discovered a vivid tale
of inventors, scientists, spymasters, and the eternal tension
between truth and secrecy at the highest levels of American power.
Paced like a thriller, A Brotherhood of Spies throws new light on
famous moments of nuclear brinkmanship and raises troubling
questions about the world we live in right now."
--Jason Fagone, author of the national bestseller The Woman Who
Smashed Codes
"The most riveting tales of history are those where the fate of
millions hangs on the actions of a few. The U-2 crisis of 1960 is
one such story, and it has never been told with greater verve or
closer attention to critical detail."
--H.W. Brands, New York Times bestselling author of The General vs.
the President
"A gripping work of narrative nonfiction . . . This exemplary work
provides a wholly satisfying take on a central chapter of the Cold
War--a dramatic story of zeal and adventure."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review "Captivating . . . A richly
detailed, well-researched, and engagingly written book that takes
us behind the scenesof one of the twentieth-century's most
nail-bitingly tense episodes."
--Booklist
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