Bridge of spies: a true story of the Cold War
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Publisher:
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Pub. Date:
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Language:
English
Description
The dramatic events behind the Oscar-winning film, Bridge of Spies, tracing the paths leading to the first and most legendary prisoner exchange between East and West at Berlin's Glienicke Bridge and Checkpoint Charlie on February 10, 1962. Bridge of Spies is the true story of three extraordinary characters whose fate helped to define the conflicts and lethal undercurrents of the most dangerous years of the Cold War: William Fisher, alias Rudolf Abel, a British born KGB agent arrested by the FBI in New York City and jailed as a Soviet superspy for trying to steal America's most precious nuclear secrets; Gary Powers, the American U-2 pilot who was captured when his plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission over the closed cities of central Russia; and Frederic Pryor, a young American graduate student in Berlin mistakenly identified as a spy, arrested and held without charge by the Stasi, East Germany's secret police. The three men were rescued against daunting odds, and then all but forgotten. Yet they laid bare the pathological mistrust that fueled the arms race for the next 30 years.Weaving the three strands of this story together for the first time, Giles Whittell masterfully portrays the intense political tensions and nuclear brinkmanship that brought the United States and Soviet Union so close to a hot war in the early 1960s. He reveals the dramatic lives of men drawn into the nadir of the Cold War by duty and curiosity, and the tragicomedy of errors that eventually induced Nikita Khrushchev to send missiles to Fidel Castro.Drawing on new interviews conducted in the United States, Europe and Russia with key players in the exchange and the events leading to it, among them Frederic Pryor himself and the man who shot down Gary Powers, Bridge of Spies captures a time when the fate of the world really did depend on coded messages on microdots and brave young men in pressure suits. The exchange that frigid day at two of the most sensitive points along the Iron Curtain represented the first step back from where the superpowers had stood since the building of the Berlin Wall the previous summer—on the brink of World War III.
Subjects
Subjects
Abel, Rudolf
Abel, Rudolf, -- 1903-1971
Espionage, American
Espionage, American -- History -- 20th century
Espionage, Soviet
Espionage, Soviet -- History
History
Intelligence service
Intelligence service -- Soviet Union -- History
Intelligence service -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Military
Nonfiction
Politics
Powers, Francis Gary
Powers, Francis Gary, -- 1929-1977
Pryor, Frederic L
Abel, Rudolf, -- 1903-1971
Espionage, American
Espionage, American -- History -- 20th century
Espionage, Soviet
Espionage, Soviet -- History
History
Intelligence service
Intelligence service -- Soviet Union -- History
Intelligence service -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Military
Nonfiction
Politics
Powers, Francis Gary
Powers, Francis Gary, -- 1929-1977
Pryor, Frederic L
More Details
ISBN:
9780767931076
9780307719980
9780307719980
Staff View
Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | ab3e504b-bd8b-2e08-b5e5-d2715e6eec00 |
---|---|
Grouping Title | bridge of spies a true story of the cold war |
Grouping Author | giles whittell |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2021-01-16 04:16:43AM |
Last Indexed | 2021-01-16 04:41:46AM |
Novelist Primary ISBN | none |
Solr Details
accelerated_reader_point_value | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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accelerated_reader_reading_level | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
author | Whittell, Giles. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
author_display | Whittell, Giles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
available_at_aacpl | Glen Burnie Library Online OverDrive Collection | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
collection_aacpl | ADULT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
detailed_location_aacpl | Glen Burnie Library - Nonfiction Online OverDrive Collection | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
display_description | The dramatic events behind the Oscar-winning film, Bridge of Spies, tracing the paths leading to the first and most legendary prisoner exchange between East and West at Berlin's Glienicke Bridge and Checkpoint Charlie on February 10, 1962. Bridge of Spies is the true story of three extraordinary characters whose fate helped to define the conflicts and lethal undercurrents of the most dangerous years of the Cold War: William Fisher, alias Rudolf Abel, a British born KGB agent arrested by the FBI in New York City and jailed as a Soviet superspy for trying to steal America's most precious nuclear secrets; Gary Powers, the American U-2 pilot who was captured when his plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission over the closed cities of central Russia; and Frederic Pryor, a young American graduate student in Berlin mistakenly identified as a spy, arrested and held without charge by the Stasi, East Germany's secret police. The three men were rescued against daunting odds, and then all but forgotten. Yet they laid bare the pathological mistrust that fueled the arms race for the next 30 years. Weaving the three strands of this story together for the first time, Giles Whittell masterfully portrays the intense political tensions and nuclear brinkmanship that brought the United States and Soviet Union so close to a hot war in the early 1960s. He reveals the dramatic lives of men drawn into the nadir of the Cold War by duty and curiosity, and the tragicomedy of errors that eventually induced Nikita Khrushchev to send missiles to Fidel Castro. Drawing on new interviews conducted in the United States, Europe and Russia with key players in the exchange and the events leading to it, among them Frederic Pryor himself and the man who shot down Gary Powers, Bridge of Spies captures a time when the fate of the world really did depend on coded messages on microdots and brave young men in pressure suits. The exchange that frigid day at two of the most sensitive points along the Iron Curtain represented the first step back from where the superpowers had stood since the building of the Berlin Wall the previous summer—on the brink of World War III. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
format_aacpl | Book eBook | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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isbn | 9780307719980 9780767931076 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
item_details
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itype_aacpl | Adult Nonfiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
last_indexed | 2021-01-16T09:41:46.378Z | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
lexile_score | -1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
literary_form | Non Fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
literary_form_full | Non Fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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owning_library_aacpl | Anne Arundel County Public Library Anne Arundel County Public Library Online | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
owning_location_aacpl | Glen Burnie Library Online OverDrive Collection | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
primary_isbn | 9780767931076 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
publishDate | 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
record_details
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recordtype | grouped_work | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
scoping_details_aacpl
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subject_facet | Abel, Rudolf, -- 1903-1971 Espionage, American -- History -- 20th century Espionage, Soviet -- History Intelligence service -- Soviet Union -- History Intelligence service -- United States -- History -- 20th century Powers, Francis Gary, -- 1929-1977 Pryor, Frederic L | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_display | Bridge of spies : a true story of the Cold War | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_full | Bridge of Spies A True Story of the Cold War Bridge of spies : a true story of the Cold War / Giles Whittell | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_short | Bridge of spies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_sub | a true story of the Cold War | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
topic_facet | Abel, Rudolf Espionage, American Espionage, Soviet History Intelligence service Military Nonfiction Politics Powers, Francis Gary Pryor, Frederic L |