On 10 February 1962; Gary Powers; the American pilot whose U-2 spy plane was shot down in Soviet airspace; was brought to Berlin's Glienicke Bridge; where he was to take part in the most famous prisoner exchange in history.The man Powers was traded for was one Colonel Rudolf Abel; a cover name for KGB Colonel Vilyam Fisher; one of the most extraordinary characters in the history of the Cold War.Abel/Fisher was born plain Willie Fisher in Newcastle upon Tyne; son to revolutionary parents who fled Tsarist oppression in Russia. Arriving in the newly formed Soviet Union in 1921; Fisher was trained as a spy and eventually sent to New York; where; posing as an artist; he ran the network that purloined America's atomic secrets.In 1957; his luck ran out and he was arrested and sentenced to thirty years in prison. Six years later; the USSR's regard for Fisher was evidenced when they insisted on swapping him for the stricken Powers. The trade was negotiated by New York lawyer James Donovan; and Abel and Powers's story is dramatized in the Steven Spielberg film Bridge of Spies.Tracing that story from the most unlikely of beginnings in Newcastle; to Moscow and beyond to the streets of New York; Abel is a singular and absorbing true story of Cold War espionage to rival anything in fiction.Vin Arthey is a writer and researcher.
#1779337 in Books Tauris Parke Paperbacks 2010-10-15 2010-10-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.86 x .90 x 5.20l; .65 #File Name: 1848854722304 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Meticulous; MasterfulBy Stephen ConstantelosBritish Victory in Egpyt is the triumphant capstone to historian Piers Mackesy's career. Most of his books; apart his widely-acclaimed War For America are out of print; but this; the most modest in scope; bears close reading to learn about the realities behind French Revolutionary Era campaigning; especially this invasion; an early case study in amphibious invasion at a time when the British army badly needed something to show for itself; being in a tailspin since the American Revolution: "How harmless an English military force is against an enemy battle array;" is the quote that begins the narrative. But Abercromby and the British triumphed over Bonaparte and his devotee; Menou; in the end.This book is not an easy read. The typeface is small; the text riddled with regimental numbers and supply and troop estimates; but there is a gem of a narrative here that repays focused reading. Mackesy certainly has his heroes--Abercromby first of all; and the copious numbers of Scottish officers and troops involved--and his tale is spun mostly from a British point of view; but the Turks and French get a decently fair shake and the issues and uncertainties on both sides a brought to the fore giving a feeling of suspense and just how precarious this campaign was for the British and how weary the highly professional and patriotic (but divided) French were of being in this Napoleonic outpost that served as his threat to Britain's colonial empire.In the course of narrative; battles are detailed; characters sketched; disease and supply are featured; landscapes and maps and lists provide backbone; and the hardships of man; woman; dog; horse; and camel are described. French savants attempt to escape by sea but are denied by the British fleet; hovering over the coast at great risk to greater Mediterranean security. Skirmishes happen; much to the chagrin of certain officers like Moore who deplore senseless risk of life (p. 105). British troops arrive from India; working their way north and west; while Abercromby's troops (later ably led by the less personable Hely-Hutchinson) work their way inland; with the Turks and Mamelukes coming to their aid from the East. The pyramids overlook all; and the story pauses to consider this and the soldiers' mixed reactions to them; some in awe; some seeing the as mere useless vestiges of slave labor (p. 197-8). Strategy and tactics are considered and described in-depth; you feel like you're in the commanders' chairs as the campaign unfolds.I'm not sure if I have the energy to read another of Mackesy's painstaking narratives; but I count having read this book one of the richest historical experiences I've had.
