James B. Donovan Books

"In the early morning of February 10, 1962, James B. Donovan began his walk down Glienicke Bridge, which then linked West Berlin to East. With him walked Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, for years the chief of Soviet espionage in the United States. Approaching them from the other side, under equally heavy guard, was Francis Gary Powers, the American U-2 pilot shot down by the Soviets. These were the strangers on a bridge, the representatives of two opposing worlds. Here Donovan, who negotiated their exchange and defended Abel at every stage of his trial, tells their story. Originally published in 1964, and now with a new foreword by bestselling author Jason Matthews, this is the singular insider account of one of the most important moments in Cold War history, the incredible spy exchange that is now the subject of the major motion picture Bridge of Spies by Steven Spielberg, starring Tom Hanks as James B. Donovan. At once a noir procedural drama and a brilliant character study, Strangers on a Bridge is the gripping, fascinating story of the great spy case of a generation."--