Spyflights of the Cold War [Paperback]

Paul Lashmar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 1998

This volume aims to present the full story of the Cold War's secret, the war in which hundreds of combatants lost their lives. Long before Gary Powers' U2 spyplane was shot down over the USSR in 1960; an undeclared war was being fought in the stratosphere. Investigative journalist Paul Lashmar has uncovered evidence of secret missions flown by US Air Force and Royal Air Force crews. He has interviewed USAF and RAF participants, and the Red Air Force pilots that tried, sometimes successfully, to shoot them down. He has also discovered details of a 1950s USAF plan to use these spy flights to provoke a nuclear World War III that would have wiped the Soviet Union and China from the face of the earth. Evidence from the former Soviet Union reveals the extent of political tension created by the spyplane war. From 1950, over 40 western aircraft were shot down and hundreds of air force officers died or remain missing. This book documents the hunt for these Cold War MIAs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul Lashmar is a freelance journalist and producer. He was an award winning investigative reporter for the Observer from 1978-89 and from 1989-92 he worked for Granada TV's current affairs series World in Action. In 1986 he was awarded Reporter of the Year' in the UK Press Awards. Paul was the producer of the BBC TV Timewatch documentaries Spies in the Sky (1994) and Russia's Secret War (1996).

Product Details

• Paperback: 255 pages
• Publisher: Sutton Publishing (August 25, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750919701
• ISBN-13: 978-0750919708
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,323,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing - politically tinged, April 27, 1998

By 

G. Sigsworth (San Diego) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spy Flights of the Cold War (Hardcover)

The author recaps early spy flights, with emphasis on British participation. There is much that is new and interesting. Unfortunately, the author's political views creep into the story as he attempts to prove that USAF leaders wanted to start WWIII. His conclusion that Western spy flights were just too provocative ignores Soviet aggression in areas other than the air war. The thought that the brutal, totalitarian Soviet system maybe deserved to be fought and eventually defeated doesn't seem to have occured to the author.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction but not the whole story, July 30, 2006

By 

Earth that Was - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spyflights of the Cold War (Paperback)

Great introduction to the 1950s Cold War spy flights. This volume was I believe based on the same research used for a BBC TV "Time Watch" documentary.

The author shows how risky and provocative this USAF - RAF joint venture was and shows the genuine courage of the airmen who flew these missions. He makes the case that senior SAC personnel may have been using these flights as a means to provoke WW3 without Presidential approval. This serious claim deserves attention but unfortunately it is not really proved or disproved here.

Perhaps the book would have been better had some more consideration been given to the positive aspects of aerial reconnaisance of this type. Eisenhower found both the later U-2 and Corona spy satellite programs essential. If those programs had not existed Eisenhower might not have been in a position to defuse the "bomber gap" and "missile gap" scares being generated at the time. His recon efforts may have done more to prevent WW3 than any of the proposed disarmament talks at the time.

Of course Eisenhower made efforts to take control of recon away from SAC mainly due to his belief that the intelligence it generated was being used in a partisan way by the USAF in budget battles with other services. Eisenhower was also motivated to take control of the spy flights due to the risks involved in their control by SAC.

These issues do not however mean that 'spy flights' or even their initial SAC control was wrong. Aerial recon proved it's peace keeping value during the decades of the Cold War and it's origin as a SAC activity was a natural outgrowth of WW2 aerial recon activity.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reading on a subject that has just been disclosed., January 11, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spy Flights of the Cold War (Hardcover)

The author provides detailed information pertaining to a number of over-flights into the Soviet Union during the cold war. There are many personal interviews with members of the crew. Great reading on a subject that has not been fully disclosed.