Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident

This is an excellent account of Powers life before and after his shoot down over the Soviet Union and prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis. He talks some about the U-2’s pluses and minuses which is still in service. Powers takes the CIA to task for leaving him unprepared and later to be scapegoated after his kangaroo trial and imprisonment. He argues that well that he should have been treated better by certain members of Congress, the press, the CIA and by the Air Force. He is absolutely right on all counts. He speaks about San Francisco columnist Herb Caen who encouraged a letter writing campaign, Cardinal Spellman who had visited his Turkey airbase, and his personally rewarding flight into the sunset flying U-2s for Lockheed out of Los show more Angeles, California. Powers absolves Ike for not knowing what was happening but that is his prerogative as such a large figure in US history. This is an excellent book on the virtues of US Air Force pilots and the dangers they face in order to survive their missions. No index, 16 pages of photos. show less

Written by Francis Gary Powers, Operation Overflight is essentially a 344-page, or 14-hour and 26-minute, primary source document detailing one of the Cold War’s most infamous US failures and the resulting fallout between the United States and the USSR. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this book!

The story is well known so I won’t get into it, but the first-hand details presented by Powers are what I found super interesting – for instance: his invitation and induction into the world of aviation espionage; the first time he laid eyes on and flew the U-2; the aircraft’s awkward cockpit, avionics, photographic equipment, and the U-2’s peculiar very high altitude performance envelope; Powers’ extraordinary high altitude show more flightsuit designed for missions at the edge of space – where a flightsuit failure during an emergency cockpit depressurization meant immediate death (as the pilot’s blood would instantly boil), U-2 pilots’ uncommon aeromedical preflight routine, Powers’ shoot down, his resistance under Soviet interrogation, and his treatment upon US repatriation.

Operation Overflight is an exceptional read and essential for Cold War and aviation buffs – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! show less

I've probably read this previously, but decided to do it again...great read! It's a no nonsense account of how Powers was approached, and eventually accepted, his job as a civilian CIA pilot. And later how he began over flying Russia. He was shot down, captured and tossed in Lubyanka and Vladimir prisons. His show trial made international news. His account is thrilling and was delayed for some years after the event, a sign of the times. I enjoyed the read and it was reminiscent of some times in my life. Yes, U-2s are still flying in the 21st century.

This is an autobiography. I enjoyed it as I did not know much about this event. Of course, being an autobiography, it will be very one sided, but it is important for the pilot to get out his side of the story. This book was out 10 years after his flight. At the end he gave his opinions on the good and bad of him being shot down as far as what America learned. He seems to think that the American public finding out about the U-2 at this time and the spying the government was doing led to the American interest in spy novels and movies.

En fantastiskt bra bok för oss som gillar Kalla Kriget.

See audiobook review.

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