Few aviation subjects have been shrouded in more secrecy or been more controversial than that of US cold war aerial reconnaissance.

Primarily undertaken by RB-50s and RB-47s of the Strategic Air Command and by CIA U-2s, other Western nations such as Britain, Sweden, and Taiwan were equally committed to gathering intelligence about the Soviet Union and its allies, and conducted their own overflight missions. In this important new study, former USAF RC-135 pilot Robert S. Hopkins, III, combines newly declassified material with first-hand experience to provide a comprehensive analysis of American, British, and allied missions and overflights and their impact on the early cold war.

In addition to rigorous research and interviews with participants, this book includes a detailed accounting of known overflights as well as incidents and losses, maps depicting mission objectives, an account of what really happened when Soviet fighters attacked US ferrets, and a summary of US aerial reconnaissance aircraft types.

Fully illustrated with rare and previously unpublished photographs, Spy Flights and Overflights challenges conventional wisdom about cold war aerial reconnaissance and is a fitting tribute to those who undertook these perilous missions in the greatest secrecy.