Globemaster Down - by Tod Robberson (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Just in time for the 75th anniversary comes the first book-length investigation into one of the great unsolved mysteries from the early days of the Cold War, when an American cargo plane allegedly carrying an atomic bomb over the Atlantic Ocean disappeared, along with the U.S. military and nuclear specialists on board.

Pulitzer Prize-winning war reporter Tod Robberson examines this shocking true story from the early days of the Cold War and the origins of the ongoing, icy relationship between the United States and Russia.

1951. The Cold War is heating up. With Soviet troops amassing across Eastern Europe and the arrests of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for spilling nuclear secrets, President Harry Truman assigned General Curtis LeMay the task of installing nuclear forces in Britain. On March 22, a massive C-124 Globemaster cargo plane--possibly carrying a "Fat Man" bomb--was dispatched to Britain with 53 passengers and crew including elite specialists in atomic warfare. Then tragedy struck . . .

The Globemaster never reached its destination. After radio communications ceased over the Atlantic, the plane took a sudden turn, flew hundreds of miles, and was ditched. Survivors disappeared before they could be rescued.

Was this the work of Soviet saboteurs? Was the mission compromised from the very start? And is a "broken arrow" bomb still lying on the bottom of the ocean? These are just a few of the questions that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tod Robberson attempts to answer in the first-ever in-depth investigation into this yet-unsolved mystery.

Drawing from classified archives and personal accounts, Robberson reconstructs LeMay's mission in riveting detail, exploring possible security leaks including a brigadier general whose bigamy may have compromised the top-secret mission. Meticulously researched and brilliantly told, Globemaster Down tells the fascinating story of two global superpowers in a reckless race toward the brink of nuclear disaster. A must-read for fans of military adventure, Cold War intrigue, and world-class espionage.

Review Quotes

Praise for Globemaster Down

"Globemaster Down unearths decades of secrecy and masterfully resurrects one of the Cold War's most haunting and hidden mysteries, blending relentless investigative journalism with the tension of a first-rate thriller. Meticulously researched and powerfully written, it grips you from the first page--a must-read for anyone who loves military history told with pulse-pounding authenticity." --W. Craig Reed, New York Times bestselling author of Red November

"An expertly woven tale of nuclear gamesmanship, espionage, possible sabotage, and seemingly ongoing government cover-ups, Globemaster Down is a thoroughly researched and engrossing page-turner. Highly recommended." --Stephen Harding, New York Times bestselling author of G.I. G-Men and The Last Battle

"Pulitzer Prize winner Tod Robberson--who has distinguished himself as one of the most intrepid reporters in the business--has marshaled his formidable skills to pry from government archives the propulsive story of a secret Cold War mission gone horribly awry, weaving the stunning details into a book that crackles with all the elements of a first-rate thriller: a lost American bomber, a missing nuclear weapon, and a heartbreaking backstory of love, loss, tragedy, and betrayal." --Gregg Jones, author of Most Honorable Son and Last Stand at Khe Sanh and Pulitzer Prize finalist

"Globemaster Down reads like the plot of a Kathryn Bigelow movie, except it really happened. It's not easy for any investigative writer to take on a historical cold case this cold, especially one cloaked in the sort of mythology and secrecy that surrounds this story, yet Tod Robberson tenaciously works around these inherent restrictions to explore all the logical--and not-so-logical--scenarios that might explain the cause of one of the worst air disasters in American military history." --Jesse Fink, author of The Eagle in the Mirror

"What happened? is the core question at the center of both the Cold War and Tod Robberson's Globemaster Down. Telling a previously untold story that is at once exciting, heartbreaking, intriguing, and mysterious, the crash of Air Force atomic transport 49-244 remains as inexplicable today as it was in 1951. Robberson gives readers the facts that put them in the role of investigator--and a chance to determine for themselves exactly what happened to a special plane, fifty-three Americans, and an unknown cargo, all amid the most tense standoff in world history." --Trevor Albertson, author of Winning Armageddon: Curtis LeMay and Strategic Air Command, 1948-1957 and former Air Force intelligence officer

About the Author

Tod Robberson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who spent four decades as a reporter, bureau chief, correspondent, and editor for various news organizations including The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, ESPN, and Reuters. He has lived in London, Panama, Mexico, Cyprus, El Salvador, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia, and holds a master's degree from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He has covered wars throughout Latin America, the Middle East, and Afghanistan, and has provided guest commentary for CNN, MSNBC, National Public Radio, Sky News, and Telemundo.