Above and Beyond: John F. Kennedy and America's Most Dangerous Cold War Spy Mission

by Casey Sherman, Michael J. Tougias Narrated by Maxwell Hamilton

Overview

From the authors of the bestselling The Finest Hours comes the riveting, deeply human story of President John F. Kennedy and two U-2 pilots, Rudy Anderson and Chuck Maultsby, who risked their lives to save America during the Cuban Missile Crisis

During the ominous two weeks of the Cold War's terrifying peak, two things saved humanity: the strategic wisdom of John F. Kennedy and the U-2 aerial spy program.

On October 27, 1962, Kennedy, strained from back pain, sleeplessness, and days of impossible tension, was briefed about a missing spy plane. Its pilot, Chuck Maultsby, was on a surveillance mission over the North Pole, but had become disoriented and steered his plane into Soviet airspace. If detected, its presence there could be considered an act of war.

As the president and his advisers wrestled with this information, more bad news came: another U-2 had gone missing, this one belonging to Rudy Anderson. His mission: to photograph missile sites over Cuba. For the president, any wrong move could turn the Cold War nuclear.

Above and Beyond is the intimate, gripping account of the lives of these three war heroes, brought together on a day that changed history.

Selected as a "Top 10 Nonfiction Books to Read" (2018) by the MA Book Awards

Editorial Reviews

JULY 2018 - AudioFile

Narrator Maxwell Hamilton brings a youthful energy and tone to this far-reaching history of the ultra-secret 1950s-60s C.I.A. U-2 spy plane program. The story takes the listener from its early testing in Nevada’s Area 51 to the Soviet capture of U-2 pilot Gary Powers and the 13 days of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. Hamilton’s voice tenses with apprehension and then hope as President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev square off against their own advisers and generals to pull the world away from an unthinkable nuclear disaster. A small quibble with this production is that a few common nautical and military terms are mispronounced. Still, this is a clear and thorough examine of a pivotal time in American history. B.P. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

02/26/2018
Sherman (coauthor of The Ice Bucket Challenge) and Tougias (A Storm Too Soon) team up again, after The Finest Hours and Boston Strong, to give an original, if uneven, account of the Cuban Missile Crisis, incorporating the experiences of two U.S. pilots alongside President Kennedy’s. Using a novelistic approach that involves dramatically recreated scenes and interweaving story lines, the authors go back to the early lives and Korean War service of pilots Rudy Anderson and Chuck Maultsby, while also covering Kennedy’s WWII service and postwar political ascension. These different narrative strands connect during the 13 days of the crisis: Maultsby, on an Arctic mission, accidentally flies into Russian airspace, ratcheting up tensions with the Soviets, while Anderson flies one of the U-2 spy planes monitoring the missile sites in Cuba. The focus on two lesser-known figures gives the book an added dimension beyond other Cuban Missile Crisis histories, but the pilots’ stories feel thin and underdeveloped. The book, however, hums when describing the strategic maneuvering in Washington. The authors will leave readers with a greater appreciation of the work required to combat the “miscalculations, incorrect interpretations, and breakdowns in command and control that could lead to war.” Agent: George Lucas, InkWell Management. (Apr.)

From the Publisher

"The authors eloquently convey the difficulties and tensions involved in the [U-2] flights, dramatically magnified during the crisis, when miscalculations could instigate disastrous response by either side....This superbly written, tense, and sometimes sad account views the Cuban Missile Crisis from an unusual and telling perspective."—Booklist, starred

"Unfolds like a spy thriller and serves as an unnerving cautionary tale in a time of reckless brinksmanship."—Boston Globe

"A novelistic approach that involves dramatically recreated scenes and interweaving story lines... The focus on two lesser-known figures gives the book an added dimension beyond other Cuban Missile Crisis histories....[Above & Beyond] hums when describing the strategic maneuvering in Washington.... The authors will leave readers with a greater appreciation of the work required to combat the 'miscalculations, incorrect interpretations, and breakdowns in command and control that could lead to war'."—Publishers Weekly

"Sherman and Tougias present an absorbing account of heroic U-2 pilots Rudolph Anderson and Charles Maultsby and their harrowing missions.... Fascinating."—Library Journal

"The authors have assembled a page-turning narrative. An edifying history that, given America's current global diplomatic stance, is also timely and hopefully instructive to those faced with similarly dire circumstances."—Kirkus Reviews

"A you-are-there retelling of the Cold War's scariest hours."—Military Times

"A fast-paced read with exciting recollections of this tumultuous time guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat....thrilling and nerve-wracking....Even though you know the outcome, it's still enough to get the heart pounding and palms sweating as Kennedy ponders and the U-2 pilots soar into the cross-hairs of history."—Providence Journal

"Readers get a front row seat to a dramatic moment in history."—Cape Cod Times

"Here is the Cuban Missile Crisis as you've never seen it before: through the eyes of the men who flew over the island at 72,000 feet, photographing the missiles that confronted Kennedy with the real possibility of nuclear war. Sherman and Tougias tell their story with pace, riveting new detail, and tremendous economy of style. To be read at one sitting with a stiff Scotch at your elbow."—Giles Whittell, New York Times bestselling author of Bridge ofSpies

"Above and Beyond is a thrilling, inspiring story that would make for relevant reading in any era, but today feels essential. It takes you inside the rooms, inside the cockpits, and sometimes inside the minds of the people confronting the most dangerous moments in human history. A tribute to true patriotism and courage, this bookreminds us that the bravest warriors, the ones who make the biggest differences, are often the ones who never fire a shot."—Jeffrey E. Stern, coauthor of The 15:17 to Paris

"The Cuban Missile Crisis: it may be the most terrifying thirteen days in human history. Live it again in Above and Beyond, the riveting new book by Casey Sherman and Michael J. Tougias. Climb aboard the most famous spy plane of them all, the legendary U-2, and photograph missile sites. Take a seat in the White House Situation Room to deliberate with President Kennedy on those photographs. Turn the pages all night and marvel yet again at the intrepid bravery of those pilots, and at the leadership that was calm, thoughtful, and steady, yet resolute in the face of unimaginably high stakes. It's an adventure yarn worthy of a great spy novelist and a cautionary tale for our dangerous times."—William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Back Bayand Bound for Gold

"Intriguing... reassuring and disquieting. Reminds us of how resilient, inspired and successful American military, industrial and political leadership could be in the direst days of the Cold War."—Wall Street Journal

"Just when you think the story can't get any better there is a cover-up."—The Patriot Ledger

"An exciting account of the Cuban Missile Crisis with plenty of detail about the spyplanes and the brave men who flew them...The authors of the best-selling The Finest Hours have worked their magic again with this engaging true-life thriller."—Aviation History

JULY 2018 - AudioFile

Narrator Maxwell Hamilton brings a youthful energy and tone to this far-reaching history of the ultra-secret 1950s-60s C.I.A. U-2 spy plane program. The story takes the listener from its early testing in Nevada’s Area 51 to the Soviet capture of U-2 pilot Gary Powers and the 13 days of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. Hamilton’s voice tenses with apprehension and then hope as President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev square off against their own advisers and generals to pull the world away from an unthinkable nuclear disaster. A small quibble with this production is that a few common nautical and military terms are mispronounced. Still, this is a clear and thorough examine of a pivotal time in American history. B.P. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2018-02-20
For 13 days in October 1962, during the hottest part of the Cold War, the fate of humanity was at stake.During those two weeks, American U-2 spy planes flying above Cuba had discovered Soviet missile sites in an advanced stage of assembly. In this new history of the Cuban missile crisis, Sherman and Tougias (co-authors: The Finest Hours: The True Story of the Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue, 2009) sketch the swift development of the elegant U-2 commissioned by the CIA and highlight the signal courage and capability of its dedicated pilots. At the time, surveillance data showed that in less than two weeks, the Soviet nuclear missiles would be fully operational. President John F. Kennedy, keenly familiar with danger and death due to his service in World War II, prepared for World War III, ready to engage the Soviets in the Caribbean and destroy hundreds of targets in the Soviet Union. He assembled an advisory group that included, among many other significant figures, Allen Dulles, Robert McNamara, McGeorge Bundy, Bobby Kennedy, and Curtis LeMay. There were also functionaries on both sides who might trigger war inadvertently or, if they were short-tempered, even deliberately. The authors have assembled a page-turning narrative of their deliberations using extracts from White House tapes as well as archival research and conversations with some of those involved. At the Kremlin, Nikita Khrushchev was troubled and inscrutable, while Kennedy was deliberative. Opting for a naval blockade, he kept all forces at full readiness. Only at the last hours did diplomacy prevail. Kennedy was able to recall the ships, the Army, the Marines on standby, and the bombers bearing nuclear weapons. Thinking of what a lesser commander in chief might have done, readers will shudder.An edifying history that, given America's current global diplomatic stance, is also timely and hopefully instructive to those faced with similarly dire circumstances.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170120390
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	04/17/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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