The first and only biography of intrepid attorney James B. Donovan, who was recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to broker near-impossible negotiations—now the basis for Steven Spielberg’s forthcoming Cold War film, Bridge of SpiesCharming, bold, and good-humored, James Donovan was a larger-than-life figure who led a fascinating and magnificently varied career, primarily as a negotiator on behalf of prisoners. When fresh out of law school, Donovan enrolled in the United States Navy during World War II and, towards the end of the war, was charged with collecting and recording evidence of Nazi atrocities, a role that then transitioned into his becoming a prosecutor at the Nuremburg trials—in charge of organizing the photographic evidence. Once returned to the US he set up a private legal practice, and his reputation grew rapidly. In 1957, he became involved with defending the captured Russian spy Rudolph Abel, and then rapidly became embroiled in a much larger international political melee as he attempted to secure the release of the captured U-2 pilot, Francis Gary Powers. Working privately but sanctioned by the CIA, he made many trips to East Berlin, until his eventual success. His career would then see another twist as he was entrusted with negotiating directly with Fidel Castro over the fate of the prisoners from the Bay of Pigs fiasco. In amongst his international negotiating career he found time to run for Senate and become President of the New York art school, Pratt Institute.
