Synopsis
This cold war history examines the top-secret reconnaissance flights over the Communist bloc and reveals the loss of American pilots, whose existence could not be acknowledged by the U.S. government. Burrows interviewed pilots who flew, and families of those who were lost.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2001-10-01 | | Edition Description: | Illustrated |
| Size | | Length: | 398 pages | | Height: | 9.0 in | | Width: | 6.0 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 25.6 oz |
Publisher's Note
"I am now convinced that we were lied to by our government as to the final disposition of the other thirteen members of that crew . . . When I took an oath of office, I made a contract with the United States Government . . . There are two sides to a contract. My side is that I will obey; I will carry out my orders. The other side of the contract is that we will never walk off and leave people . . . They have lied to the families. They have lied to the sons and daughters. They have lied to us at the base. It is a breach of contract and it borders on criminal activity."
--Lt. Col. James H. Keefe (Ret.)
During the cold war, a relentless and dangerous battle of wits took place as top secret reconnaissance missions were flown continuously by the United States along the periphery of the Communist bloc, and occasionally deep into enemy territory, to collect information that would be used in the event of all-out nuclear war. Throughout this shadow war, American airmen risked, and sometimes lost, their lives in the search for vital military intelligence.
These clandestine missions were cloaked in utmost secrecy, and the only hint of their existence came when a plane was shot down. Hundreds of Air Force and Navy crewmen were killed or wounded on these forays, and more than 130 disappeared altogether when their planes were shot down over or near enemy waters. By Any Means Necessary reveals that many of these airmen were captured by the Russians, Chinese, and North Koreans, and either killed outright or imprisoned and tortured. The U.S. government, needing to protect the reconnaissance operations, made no real attempt to recover the prisoners, who were written off as problems without a solution. Families were told their loved ones had died on training missions or because of navigational error. In spite of all the evidence to the contrary, government denials continue today as, in an effort to improve relations with Russia, Washington still looks the other way.
In By Any Means Necessary, award-winning historian William E. Burrows tells in unprecedented detail the story of the thousands of men who flew these "black" missions, as well as that of the widows and children of those who never returned, who still live with the pain of loss and uncertainty. From the cold war era to the recent U.S.-China standoff about the so-called Navy spy plane, Burrows provides an incisive, comprehensive, and deeply human account of the secret air war in international skies.
Industry Reviews
"[W]ell-written and tremendously informed..."
Kirkus Reviews (07/15/2001)
"Burrows's book provides a service by giving names and human faces to those shadowy figures, often officially denied by our own government, who flew crucial missions during the cold war. The brave crewmen deserve our thanks, which are long overdue.....BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY succeeds as an eclectic collection of tales of derring-do. However, a comprehensive history of cold war aerial reconnaissance remains to be written."
New York Times Book Review - Michael Beschloss (12/16/2001)
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