Above and Beyond: John F. Kennedy and America's Most Dangerous Cold War Spy Mission

Casey Sherman is considered one of America's preeminent true-crime authors and investigative journalists. His books include The Ice Bucket Challenge; The Finest Hours, coauthored with Michael J. Tougias and made into a major motion picture by Walt Disney Pictures; Animal: The Bloody Rise and Fall of the Mob's Most Feared Assassin; Search for the Strangler; and Bad Blood. He has been a finalist for the Massachusetts Book of the Year honors and the New Hampshire Literary Awards nonfiction prize. He has been a featured guest on NBC's Today and Dateline; CBS's The Early Show, 48 Hours, and the CBS Evening News; ABC World News Tonight, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Discovery, The History Channel, A&E, The Travel Channel, and The View.

Michael J. Tougias is the author and coauthor of twenty-three books, including Rescue of the Bounty, A Storm too Soon, Fatal Forecast, and Ten Hours Until Dawn. Tougias has written for the New York Times and several other prestigious magazines and newspapers. He is a sought-after lecturer who gives more than seventy presentations each year. He lives in Massachusetts.

"The authors eloquently convey the difficulties and tensions involved in the [U-2] flights, dramatically magnified during the crisis, when miscalculations could instigate disastrous response by either side....This superbly written, tense, and sometimes sad account views the Cuban Missile Crisis from an unusual and telling perspective."―Booklist, starred

"Unfolds like a spy thriller and serves as an unnerving cautionary tale in a time of reckless brinksmanship."―Boston Globe

"A novelistic approach that involves dramatically recreated scenes and interweaving story lines... The focus on two lesser-known figures gives the book an added dimension beyond other Cuban Missile Crisis histories....[Above & Beyond] hums when describing the strategic maneuvering in Washington.... The authors will leave readers with a greater appreciation of the work required to combat the 'miscalculations, incorrect interpretations, and breakdowns in command and control that could lead to war'."―Publishers Weekly

"Sherman and Tougias present an absorbing account of heroic U-2 pilots Rudolph Anderson and Charles Maultsby and their harrowing missions.... Fascinating."―Library Journal

"The authors have assembled a page-turning narrative. An edifying history that, given America's current global diplomatic stance, is also timely and hopefully instructive to those faced with similarly dire circumstances."―Kirkus Reviews

"A you-are-there retelling of the Cold War's scariest hours."―Military Times

"Here is the Cuban Missile Crisis as you've never seen it before: through the eyes of the men who flew over the island at 72,000 feet, photographing the missiles that confronted Kennedy with the real possibility of nuclear war. Sherman and Tougias tell their story with pace, riveting new detail, and tremendous economy of style. To be read at one sitting with a stiff Scotch at your elbow."―Giles Whittell, New York Times bestselling author of Bridge of Spies

"Above and Beyond is a thrilling, inspiring story that would make for relevant reading in any era, but today feels essential. It takes you inside the rooms, inside the cockpits, and sometimes inside the minds of the people confronting the most dangerous moments in human history. A tribute to true patriotism and courage, this book reminds us that the bravest warriors, the ones who make the biggest differences, are often the ones who never fire a shot."―Jeffrey E. Stern, coauthor of The 15:17 to Paris

"The Cuban Missile Crisis: it may be the most terrifying thirteen days in human history. Live it again in Above and Beyond, the riveting new book by Casey Sherman and Michael J. Tougias. Climb aboard the most famous spy plane of them all, the legendary U-2, and photograph missile sites. Take a seat in the White House Situation Room to deliberate with President Kennedy on those photographs. Turn the pages all night and marvel yet again at the intrepid bravery of those pilots, and at the leadership that was calm, thoughtful, and steady, yet resolute in the face of unimaginably high stakes. It's an adventure yarn worthy of a great spy novelist and a cautionary tale for our dangerous times."―William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Back Bay and Bound for Gold