Above and Beyond

By: Casey Sherman

Narrated by: Maxwell Hamilton

Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

From the authors of the best-selling 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

©2018 Casey Sherman (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"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

Great story, awful narration

If only the narrator could properly pronounce names, terms, and words like ‘nuclear’, this would have been a fantastic audiobook.

A little disappointing with the narration.

The written content was good. It did tend to wander a bit, but flowed nicely, and kept my interest. The narrator has a remarkable voice, but the performance was strewn with mis-pronunciations, which spoiled an otherwise good performance!

Narrator’s mispronunciations detracted from the story

One would hope that the narrator of a book about important historical events would take the time to get the pronunciations of the names of key players correct. This author did not. For example, the secretary of defense during the Cuban missile crisis, Robert McNamara, was mentioned hundreds of times. Each time, the narrator incorrectly pronounced his name McNamorra rather than McNamara (which rhymes with Sara). A minor point but a significant distraction from the flow of the story.

Distracted by mispronunciations

The content of the book was good, but I found myself thinking more about the narrator's many mispronunciations. Many military terms, places, and people's names were mispronounced. These are littered throughout the book and really detract from the story. I've never heard anything like it in a professional narration.

Great listen

Good narrative and insightful. I would recommend for history junkies and the merely interested alike. Personally am not a fan of any narrator’s non-fiction character impersonations. I know what JFK, et. al. sounded like in speech. While the narrator gets an “A” for trying, maybe just read in a regular voice next time. JFK, Bobby & Kruschev are difficult.

Narrator was either learning disabled or lazy

I truly believe the narrator has a problem with pronunciation. There was just too many errors to simply be unpreparedness. That said, he was also unprepared. If you are unsure of how to pronounce a military acronym, like a MIG jet, then ask any military type. “Area 51” covers recon-jets better.

Book was great narrator was not

Loved the book hated the narrator. When he kept trying to do impressions it annoyed me. Just read the text. We don’t need your spin on kennedys voice.

Compelling story, almost compelling delivery...

This is a fascinating look at an important piece of American 20th century history. In this case, the narration probably isn't as good as the book. The narrator's insistence on pronouncing ensign as "in-sign", MiG as "M-I-G", and nuclear as "nuc-u-lar" was distracting.

Great story, poor delivery

An Amazing story that was almost ruined by the readers extreme lack of technical/aviation knowledge and use of acronyms.

Skip the first half of the book.

The authors are not good historians. They padded the first half of the story with some many historical inaccuracies, I was yelling at the book, one example was calling a C47 a Globemaster!
There were so many more I couldn't believe it. The narrator was also infuriating. MIG alley in Korea was narrated as "M" "I" "G" alley..............

A rehash of John Kennedy PT105 experience was unneeded. The authors try to put them selves in Kennedy's' head to draw parallels between PT105 and the Missile crisis. To much speculation on how Kennedy might have felt.

That being said, the 1/2 half of the book about the Missile Crisis was informative. It was covered from both USSR and USA sides in a fair "timeline" fashion.

Note to the authors: Please the next time you write about aviation history during 30's-50's please have your facts checked by an aviation historian. Then I won't have to yell at the narrator!