We Were Never There Volume 1 and 2: CIA U-2 Operations, Europe @ War Series
By Matt Bittner
Volume 1: CIA U-2 Operations Over Europe, the USSR and the Middle East, 1956-1960
Author: Kevin Wright
Publisher: Helion & Company Limited
ISBN: 978-1-804511-03-9
Binding: Digital
Pages: 80
Volume 2: CIA U-2 Asia and Worldwide Operations 1957-1974
Author: Kevin Wright
Publisher: Helion & Company Limited
ISBN: 978-1-915113-61-0
Binding: Digital
Pages: 84
Being a child of the Cold War (born in the early '60s) and a prior USAF Officer whom was initially "SAC-imcised" (Strategic Air Command) ("Once you go SAC, you never go back") then into STRATCOM (Strategic Command) when SAC stood down I have a penchant for anything about Cold War history, especially those years that I was never part of (and even those I was). There is a lot that went on during that time, militarily, politically and throughout the world, that books about the Cold War could be written in perpetuity. And I will be happy to read them all. When I saw this series from Helion & Company Limited, I knew I wanted to read them to discover things I never knew about, or knew little about.
These first two volumes from Kevin Wright (whom taught Cold War history, international security and politics at the University of Essex) explain the use of the U-2 by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The CIA at first flew the most sensitive missions of early U-2 flights. They expanded their role through time to not only fly close to country borders, but eventually fly over those countries where more intelligence (intel) was needed. It was all scary business in what was essentially a powered glider, traveling far above where early jets could reach. Which was one of its saving graces in those early years. For example, during some flights over the USSR the Soviets would launch their current fighters (which were MiG-15s) which couldn't reach the altitude the U-2 flew. But, the U-2 pilot had to be careful because it wasn't until fuel was used they were able to reach their optimal height. Throughout its career the U-2 forced organizations to better their optical equipment.
There are plenty of photographs from the two eras covered in these books, along with maps that were made by Tom Cooper using declassified and public-domain data. A lot of the CIA's U-2 documents are still either classified or redacted. Kevin Wright has truly performed due diligence research in being able to use what documents are available.
Not only are the photographs in both volumes of areas the U-2 flew over and took photographs of, but there are also plenty of pictures for the airplane enthusiast amongst us. While this isn't a specific technical book about the Dragon Lady (as the U-2 was known) there is still plenty of information about the airframe to keep even the biggest airplane enthusiast happy. Plus, there are color profiles! What more could a modeler want?
These are excellent books about the CIA's roles when flying the U-2. They do touch upon not only the RAF's role, but Taiwan's as well in the second volume. So everything you could ever want to know about the U-2 from the CIA's point of view is contained in these two books. I highly recommend them.
And I send a big "thanks" to Helion & Company Limited for allowing me to review these wonderful tomes.