Krzysztof Dabrowski from Poland has a lifelong interest in the subject of military aviation, and has written dozens of articles on a variety of related subjects for printed magazines and the ACIG.org/ACIG.info, AeroHisto and The Boresight websites. His particular area of interest is the air warfare during the Cold War, the aircraft involved, and the experiences of their crews. This is his first instalment for Helion and he is working on a second title (Dropping the Big Ones: Live Testing of Soviet Nuclear Bombs, 1949-1962) for release in 2021.

Helion is a UK based company that produces books on many aspects of Military History from the Late Medieval period through to the present day. Helion was established in 1996, and since then they have published almost 1,200 books, with 100 or more new titles coming out every year, for readers around the world. Helion’s third book in the Europe @ War series is a square back soft cover includes 56 gloss paper pages. Another five books in the Europe @ War series are planned for 2020.

The cover features a color photograph of a US Air Force U-2. The color side view by Tom Cooper is of a Sukhoi Su-9 Fishpot marked as Blue-10. The rear cover also depicts two color side profiles by Tom Cooper. The upper side profile is a ROCAF Lockheed U-2R of the 35^th Black Cat Squadron. The lower side profile is one of the few MiG-21F-13 that actually entered service in China prior to Chinese built J-7s. I counted 2 color pictures, 51 black and white photographs, and one black and white diagram. There also 15 aviation color side profiles by Tom Cooper, one SAM-75 color side profile by David Bocquelet, three color ‘uniform’ figures [by Anderson Subtil], eleven black and white maps, one full color map, and four tables.

There has no doubt been plenty written on the Lockheed U-2 and Gary Powers. What Krzysztof Dabrowski brings to this volume is the Russian and Chinese perspective. Krzysztof Dabrowski does cover the development of the Soviets Surface to Air Missile (SAM) system and briefly the U-2, but he then ably switches to the background in politics and the Soviet determination to end the overflights. Although the U-2 is the feature, there are many sub-plots that involve not only the SAMs, but the MiG-19, MiG-21, Su-9, along with the Martin RB-57 and Boeing RB-47H. Coverage is also provided for the Cuban crisis with the Soviet placement of missiles that could easily reach the United States. Krzysztof Dabrowski provides the operational context from both sides to piece together what actually happened, much of which has only came available recently. The sections include:

• Abbreviations
• Preface and Abbreviations
• Introduction
  1. Rivals
     • S-25: The First Soviet Surface-To-Air Missile
     • From S-25 to S/SA-75
     • Terminology and Designations
     • Table 1: Major Early Versions of the S-75 SAM System
     • Table 2: Early Missiles of the S-75 System
     • Table 3: Equipment of a Typical S-75 SAM Site of the V-PVO, 1958-1962
     • U-2: A Legend Is Born
  2. Early U-2 Overflights
     • Distribution of Responsibilities
     • Initial U-2 Operations
     • Soviet Reaction
     • Detachments A, B, and C
  3. Early SAM Success
     • Looking Beyond the Bamboo Curtain
     • Project Diamond Lil [Page 14]
     • Jack in the Box
     • The First SAM Kill
     • A Secret Well Kept
  4. U-2 Missions Continue
     • Back Over the USSR
     • Finally Sighted
     • Getting Closer
     • Operation Square Deal: The Longest Hunt
  5. Mayday Mayhem – The Downing of F. G. Powers
     • Gearing Up
     • The Hunt Is On
     • Kamikaze – Soviet Style
     • Success – At Last
     • Nothing But Trouble
     • An Unnecessary Death
     • The Aftermath
  6. After Effects of Powers’ Downing
     • Powers’ Fate
     • A Hot Period of the Cold War
     • Tragedies and Ironies [Page 29]
  7. Caribbean Confrontation
     • Overture
     • Enter the Big Brother
     • Operation Anadyr
     • Cold War Encounters
     • False Soviet Claims
     • The Cuban Missile Crisis
     • Target 33
     • Tragic Fate of Major Anderson
     • Aurora Borealis [Page 36]
     • Resume
     • Color Illustrations [Page 32iii]
  8. Asian Altercations
     • Project TACKLE
     • Unwelcome Guests
     • The Deadly Game of Cat and Mouse
     • Solution for the Manoeuvering Problem
     • The Almost SAM Ace
     • The Indian Interlude
     • Red Flag
     • The Final U-2 Loss to SAMs
     • Interceptor Problems
     • Thou Shall…And Thou Shall Not
     • A Matter of Arts…And Luck[Page 48]
     • Sad Part of the Story
     • French Attempts
  9. Last Blast
     • The Final Confrontation
     • Table 4: Successful RB-57 and U-2 Hunters
     • Old Soldiers Do Not Fade Away: They Go Out With A Bang
• Bibliography
• Notes

I found many of the topics very interesting, I had not been aware that British and Republic of China (Taiwan) pilots had flown the U-2. One story did stick with me though. During the Taiwan Strait Crisis with mainland China, twelve ROCAF F-86 Sabres had been armed with the brand new GAR-9 (later renamed the AIM-9B Sidewinder). They were quite effective in their first battle, but it would also become a turning point in technology. Four of the six fired GAR-9 missiles found their home and took down the PLAAF’s MiG-17. The problem was the only one of the other two missed. One found its home in the fuselage of a PLAAF MiG -17F, but did not explode. The pilot was able to land safely and the unexploded missile was turned over to the Russians who re-engineered the missile into the R-35 (AA-2 Atoll).

Krzysztof Dabrowski weaves a good story that balances all the combatants involved utilizing newly released information. The contemporary photographs support the text, and certainly give you a good perspective of the events described. I am looking forward to future volumes in Helion’s Europe @ War series. If you own one the previous releases in Helion’s “@ War” series, you know what you are getting. If this is your initial entry into this series, you will be quite pleased.

My thanks to Helion & Company, Casemate Publishing, and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great book.

Highly recommended!