Bridge of Spies

A True Story of the Cold War

By: Giles Whittell

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

The “riveting, meticulously researched, and beautifully written” (Ben Macintyre, author of The Spy and the Traitor) true story chronicles the first and most legendary prisoner exchange of the Cold War, between East and West at Berlin’s Glienicke Bridge and Checkpoint Charlie

“A marvelous saga of dangerous missions, helter-skelter innovation, and clandestine activity.”—The Wall Street Journal

Who were the three men the American and Soviet superpowers exchanged at Berlin’s Glienicke Bridge and Checkpoint Charlie in the first prisoner exchange of the nuclear age? Bridge of Spies vividly traces their paths to that electrifying moment on February 10, 1962, when their fates helped to define the conflicts and lethal undercurrents of the most dangerous years of the cold war.

Bridge of Spies is the true story of three extraordinary characters—William Fisher, alias Rudolf Abel, a British-born KGB agent arrested by the FBI in New York City and jailed as a Soviet superspy for trying to steal America’s most precious nuclear secrets; Gary Powers, the American U-2 pilot who was captured when his plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission over central Russia; and Frederic Pryor, a young American graduate student in Berlin mistakenly identified as a spy, arrested, and held without charge by the Stasi, East Germany’s secret police.

Giles Whittell masterfully weaves the three strands of this story together and reconstructs the brinkmanship and covert mind games that brought the United States and Soviet Union so close to a hot war in the early 1960s. The exchange that day at two of the most sensitive points along the Iron Curtain represented the first step back from where the superpowers had stood since the building of the Berlin Wall the previous summer—on the brink of World War III.

©2015 Giles Whittell (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"As thrilling as any spy novel . . . the author sets out the mysteries of spy craft in fascinating detail.”—Associated Press

Very Solid and Captivating

The Good –
Well I know that the movie is out and I intentionally avoided it until I finished this. I actually got this book because of my previous read The Billion Dollar Spy. Bridge of Spies surpassed that and I am very glad I listened to it before seeing the movie. This book was good from the first word to the last. While I would not call this a great book it did as much as it could with the particular subject matter. This is a first rate book!

The Bad -
Not one thing.

The Narration -
Jonathan Keeble; Wow. Phenomenal narration! Even if the book were just mediocre I'd listen again just because the narration was so good.

The Overall -
If you like spy novels, especially true stories, get this one in your library. If you hate spy novels get this anyway. Yes, it's that good. It will get a second listen in a few years I'm sure.

Fabulous Cold War History that reads like a first rate novel

A incisive look at one of the great fulcrum moments of the post WWII Century; the Cold War in the balance, it tipped the way it did and brought in the ICBM race and Kennedy's Camelot and the moon shots and decades of proxy wars and the eventual bankrupting of the USSR (and soon historians will add: the move of the mighty America to debtor nation notoriety.) And so much of it hinged on the events surrounding the ill fated May Day flight of Power's Icarian U2. Eisenhower had approved only one more flight. He was gunning for detente as hard as Kruschev was and neither could show their hand, the Paris Peace talks were around the corner. But their hopes for peace and disarmament went down in the same fiery flames as that U2 that fell from 13 miles up. Spielberg's movie of the book is gripping and ultimately very human, as all his movies are, but it touches on only about two and half chapters of this tour de force book that brings you through such a crucial moment mid-century, a defining place in time that marked the ashen end of the corps that was the antique world left in the twentieth century and ushered in all that was Mylar and Velcro and hydrogen bomb in the coming Space Age.

Loved it!

Great story and loved the narration. If you like books about historical events then you'll love this one!

Informative and Important Cold War Episode

What made the experience of listening to Bridge of Spies the most enjoyable?

The explanations of how complicated was the exchange of prisoners.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The integrity of the lawyer negotiating the swap.

Which scene was your favorite?

Hmm. Good question. The information about the lawyer's subsequent contributions in repatriating Bay of Pigs prisoners. Not a scene, but interesting, new information.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It reminded me of how scary the Cold War was.

Any additional comments?

A worthwhile, informative, interesting, entertaining audiobook.

Riveting true history of the Cold War

Author weaves multiple strands of story together. Sometimes requires concentration, but worth the effort. Recommend.

A great listen.

Always amazes me when life is at times better than the best fiction. I truly enjoyed this book. had a few parts of it that repeated several times from a different perspective but aside from that very entertaining.

Bridge of Spies

Any additional comments?

Read by the author and just over eleven hours of listening. William Fisher, Gary Powers, and Frederic Pryor are the focus of Bridge of Spies. Most Americans have at least heard the name Gary Powers. He’s the U2 pilot that was captured by the Soviets and accused of spying. There is even a museum today in Russia with the wreckage of his airplane … repeat: today. Old cold war enmities still exist, huh. Well, the fact is, he really was spying … a truism and embarrassment for the United States at the time. But … our soviet friends were not innocent victims in the spy games, as Nikita Khrushchev wanted the world to buy into his righteous indignation at the time.

The book is not a novel, it is not the thrill ride of a fictional James Bond (Fleming) or Mitch Rapp (Flynn) or Jason Bourne (Ludlum), etc. Bridge of Spies is the more mundane, and equally deadly, truth of spies … American, British, Soviet, and the political leadership behind the espionage … they’re all guilty, spying was (and still is) a truism.

Narration is great. It’s always nice to hear the words of the author as he intended.

Read this book as a prelude to understanding the upcoming movie to be released the fall of 2015 starring Tom Hanks. Who doesn’t like Tom :-).

Enjoy!

Quite a surprise

What made the experience of listening to Bridge of Spies the most enjoyable?

Having watched the movie I thought it would be the same story. Instead the movie almost starts off at the 85% mark. The book covers in details the workings of Russian spydome and the CIA's involvement in the U2 program. I'm so glad I listened to this to gain a better understanding of what actually occurring.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The bungling of the U2 mission and the conspiracy theories surrounding the sabotage of the Paris conference.

Which scene was your favorite?

The court scene for Gary for the mind games played.

If you could give Bridge of Spies a new subtitle, what would it be?

U2 can be a Russian Spy!

A Very Interesting Account

Would you consider the audio edition of Bridge of Spies to be better than the print version?

Yes. The narrator was very good

Any additional comments?

A lot of historical information was listed which was ok since I lived during that period & served in the military. It could be distracting to someone else, tho.

Good and interesting book, but dry at times

I enjoyed the book and definitely enjoyed the additional insights into the history of the period.

At times the narrative dragged a bit, but it was quite interesting overall.

The performance was pretty good, but his russian pronunciation was poor at times. I cringed every time he tried (and failed) to pronounce Tyuratam. It is pronounced Tur (like pure)-a-tom NOT Tie-uri-tam.

I just saw the movie today. It made the story more riveting, but focused on only a portion of the story.