BESG Hosts “Letters from a Soviet Prison: The Personal Journal and Private Correspondence of CI U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers” with Gary Powers, Jr.

The British Empire Study Group Invites you and your group to join us on Thursday, November 10th 2022 6PM ET 1PM GMT for

“Letters from a Soviet Prison: The Personal Journal and Private Correspondence of CI U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers.” with Gary Powers, Jr.

Our Presenter’s father, Francis Gary Powers, was the CIA U-2 pilot who was shot down in the midst of the Cold War, on May 1, 1960, while flying in Soviet airspace. After his capture, he was tried for espionage and then served nearly two years in a Soviet prison until his eventual release in exchange for Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel, a senior KGB spy who was caught in the United States in the late 1950s. The two operatives were brought to separate sides of the Glienicker Bridge in Potsdam, Germany, as depicted in Steven Spielberg’s motion picture Bridge of Spies, where the exchange took place. While in prison his father kept a personal journal and was allowed to write and receive personal correspondence.

Through more than 150 priceless letters, written and received by a man whose name is synonymous with the cold war, history comes alive.  Join The British Empire Study Group for this unique opportunity to hear about this historic event directly from Gary Power’s son and through cold war mail.  Gary will tell the history and the philatelist in the group can pontificate about the postal history.

The webinar is Free and membership in the British Empire Study Group is not required.

We encourage everyone to purchase Gary’s new book Letters from A Soviet Prison available on his site garypowers.com  or https://garypowers-101839.square.site/  (We may be able to arrange to have your copy autographed).

As always, we offer automated close captioning on our programs for viewers who are hearing impaired.

Registration Link

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1016391983460/WN_B0nT4N92Tm-hMNoCvRj6ow