Books by Author Francis Gary Powers

by Francis Gary Powers, Jr.
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4 books
Both my parents worked for the CIA in the 1950s and 1960s. On May 1, 1960 my father was shot down over the Soviet Union while on a CIA U-2 spy flight and spent nearly 2 years in a Soviet prison before being exchanged for Soviet KGB Spy Colonel Rudolph Abel in 1962 as recently depicted in Steven Spielberg’s Cold War thriller, “Bridge of Spies.” As a result of my father’s untimely death in 1977, I started to do research in college to find out the truth or what took place because of all the conspiracy theories and fake news that surrounded my father. As a result of my research, I not only cleared my father’s reputation, but also in 1996 founded The Cold War Museum to honor Cold War veterans, preserve Cold War history, and educate future generations about this time period. These four books about my father, the U-2 Incident and the Cold War in Virginia that I have written document the truth of what took place on May 1, 1960, setting the record straight in regards to my father’s role in the incident and taking my father’s reputation from infamy to that of an American hero posthumously awarded the POW Medal and Silver Star.
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Letters From a Soviet Prison

The Personal Journal and Private Correspondence of CIA U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers
Jr Francis Gary Powers, Douglas E. Campbell, 2019
My father, Francis Gary Powers, was a CIA U-2 pilot who was shot down in the midst of the Cold War on May 1, 1960, while flying in Soviet airspace. After his capture, he was tried for espionage and then served nearly two years in a Soviet prison until his eventual release in exchange for Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel, a senior KGB spy who was caught in the United States in the late 1950s. The two operatives were brought to separate sides of the Glienicker Bridge in Potsdam, Germany, as depicted in Steven Spielberg’s motion picture Bridge of Spies, where the exchange took place. While in prison, my father kept a personal journal and was allowed to write and receive personal correspondence. In this book are the never-before published journal of my father’s thoughts as a Prisoner of War, along with more than 150 personal letters written and received by my father during his captivity.

Spy Pilot

Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 Incident, and a Controversial Cold War Legacy
Francis Gary Powers (Jr.), Francis Gary Powers, Keith Dunnavant, Sergei Krushchev, 2019
Based on newly available information, the son of famed U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers presents the facts and dispels misinformation about the Cold War espionage program that turned his father into a Cold War icon. One of the most talked-about events of the Cold War was the downing of the American U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960. The event was recently depicted in the Steven Spielberg movie Bridge of Spies. Powers was captured by the KGB, subjected to a televised show trial, and imprisoned, all of which created an international incident. Soviet authorities eventually released him in exchange for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. On his return to the United States, Powers was exonerated of any wrongdoing while imprisoned in Russia, yet due to bad press and the government's unwillingness to heartily defend Powers, a cloud of controversy lingered until his untimely death in 1977. Now his son, Francis Gary Powers Jr. and acclaimed historian Keith Dunnavant have written this new account of Powers's life based on personal files that had never been previously available. Delving into old audio tapes, letters his father wrote and received while imprisoned in the Soviet Union, the transcript of his father's debriefing by the CIA, other recently declassified documents about the U-2 program, and interviews with the spy pilot's contemporaries, Powers and Dunnavant set the record straight. The result is a fascinating piece of Cold War history. This is also a book about a son's journey to understand his father, pursuing justice and a measure of peace. Almost sixty years after the fact, this will be the definitive account of one of the most important events of the Cold War.

Enemy Territory

Jr. Francis Gary Powers, Walter Pfenninger, 2022
On May 1, 1960, Francis Gary Powers, the pilot of an American U-2 spy plane, was shot down while flying though Soviet airspace. Powers was convicted of espionage. In February 1962, however, he was traded for a captured Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel. This is a graphic Interpretation of those events.

Cold War Virginia

Christopher Sturdevant, 2024
The Commonwealth played a central role in United States involvement in the Cold War. With doomsday planning operations underway for World War III, the location of the Pentagon, CIA, and other federal agencies established Northern Virginia as an epicenter of decision-making. As Virginia military bases readied for a potential surprise attack by the Soviet Union, local research facilities played a paramount role in the Space Race. In 1960, the Soviet shootdown of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers, a Virginia native, created a superpower crisis of epic proportions. Cold War historians Francis Gary Powers, Jr. and Christopher Sturdevant tell these and other tales of espionage, heroism and betrayal.