By Any Means Necessary: America's Secret Air War in the Cold War - Hardcover

Burrows, William E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374117470 ISBN 13: 9780374117474

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001

Synopsis

The "Blind Man's Bluff" of aerial espionage.

Unknown to the public and cloaked in the utmost secrecy, the United States flew missions against the Communist bloc almost continuously during the Cold War in a desperate effort to collect intelligence and find targets for all-out nuclear war. The only hint of the relentless, clandestine operations came when one of the planes was shot down. Many of the air force and navy flyers were killed on the top secret missions. But now, for the first time, award-winning historian William E. Burrows shows that others were captured by the Russians, Chinese, and North Koreans, and were tortured, imprisoned, and killed, while their loved ones grieved and their government looked the other way. In an effort to improve relations with Russia, Washington is still looking the other way, though it pretends otherwise.

Burrows has interviewed scores of men who flew these "black" missions, as well as the widows and children of those who never returned, all of whom want the full story finally told. He has done so with an eye to this story's immensely human dimension. By Any Means Necessary is not about airplanes, but about the people who've sacrificed their lives in the interests of national security.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

"Burrows puts the history of America's secret air war during the Cold War into a clear perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed reading By Any Means Necessary. Well written and informative, the book is a magnificent assessment of Cold War history as seen through the history of aerial reconnaissance." -Francis Gary Powers, Jr., Founder, The Cold War Museum

About the Author

William E. Burrows is the author of the award-winning Deep Black: Space Espionage and National Security. He is a professor of journalism at New York University, and is the founder and director of its Science and Environmental Reporting Program.

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0374117470
• ISBN 13: 9780374117474
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416