Shootdown : Flight 007 and the American Connection

Johnson, R. W.

ISBN 10: 0670812099 / ISBN 13: 9780670812097

Published by Viking Penguin - Virago Press, New York, NY, U.S.A., 1986

About this Item

335 pages. Dust jacket has uncliped price 18.95 and a 3/4 inch tear plus a small jacket tear and edge chips and scuffing. In the early hours of September 1, 1983, a Soviet fighter plane shot down Korean Airlines flight 007 as it flew without authorization over the Soviet Union's airspace. The Boeing 747 plunged into the Sea of Japan, killing all 269 passengers and crew. Reactions around the world were of horror and indignation. The Reagan Administration energetically asserted that flight 007 had drifted off course accidentally, and that the Soviet Union fired knowingly without warning . With the passage of time much new information has come to light which casts grave doubts on the American claims and the integrity of those who asserted them. The author demolishes the Reagan version of events and sets this tragedy in the context of vital American and Soviet strategic interests in the North Pacific. It will be hard for a reasonable person to read this book and not conclude that flight 007 was on an intelligence mission for the U S when it was shot down.

Seller Inventory # 6446

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Shootdown : Flight 007 and the American Connection
• Publisher: Viking Penguin - Virago Press, New York, NY, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670812099
• ISBN 13: 9780670812097
• Binding: Hard Back
• Edition: First American Edition Stated
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

Presents evidence that the Korean airliner shot down by the Soviet Union was on an American intelligence mission

Reviews

When Korean Airlines flight 007 was shot down by a Soviet fighter in 1983, many questions and contradictions emerged that still haven't been answered. Johnson's absorbing study explores the complex affair from various angles and provides a broad context, including an assessment of the strategic balance in Northeast Asia, the use of civilian airlines for espionage and the way international crises are handled by the Reagan administration. Presented here are the four major theories of what happened and why: that Flight 007 strayed off course by accident; that the pilot tried to take a shortcut to save fuel; that the Soviets lured the plane off course through electronic interference with navigational equipment; and that 007 was, as the Soviets have claimed, on a surveillance mission. In the book's piece de resistance, Johnson reruns the sequence of events surrounding the flight as if hypothesis four were true, and most readers will likely agree that it is the only one that makes sense. Johnson is a Fellow in Politics at Oxford. Photos. 50,000 first printing. (June
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Johnson, an Oxford political scientist, reviews publicly available information on the 1983 Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, and critically evaluates hypotheses put forward to explain the many mysteries still surrounding the tragedy. While acknowledging that the evidence remains incomplete, he concludes that KAL 007 was most likely on a U.S.-directed intelligence mission designed to reveal Soviet air defense radarsa finding similar to that of Alexander Dallin's Black Box ( LJ 5/1/85) and at odds with Richard Rohmer's Massacre 747 (Paperjacks, 1984). Readers will find more detail on many points than in earlier analyses as well as an accusation of Reagan Administration dishonesty on the matter. A readable and useful contribution to the debate. Recommended for most libraries. James R. Kuhlman, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.