Teesside University Fellow tells the whole story behind Spielberg’s espionage thriller
Author and Teesside University Visiting Fellow Dr Vin Arthey has written the extraordinary back story of a Newcastle-born Russian spy whose remarkable life is now being re-told in Steven Spielberg’s latest film.
Dr Vin Arthey.
Spielberg’s espionage thriller Bridge of Spies is based on Rudolf Abel, who was born in Newcastle as William Fisher, but went on to become a Russian spy during the Cold War.
Dr Arthey has been fascinated by the spy story for more than 50 years and his work to document the incredible events earned him a PhD from Teesside University.
He has written Abel: The True Story of the Spy they Traded for Gary Powers, which is being published to coincide with the release of Bridge of Spies.
Spielberg’s film focuses on the time in 1962 when the American authorities arranged to swap their prisoner for US reconnaissance spy plane pilot Gary Powers, who had been shot down over the Soviet Union, and Tom Hanks plays the lawyer involved in the negotiations.
But Dr Arthey’s book documents Abel’s entire life, from his birth to revolutionary Russian parents in Clara Street, Newcastle, to his evolution to one of the KGB’s most trusted and respected spies. He has also built up a lasting friendship with the descendants of Abel as well as his lawyer James Donovan, played by Hanks in the film.
Dr Arthey, who made several visits to Russia while writing his book, describes Abel as one of the most famous and celebrated KGB spies.
In the ensuing publicity resulting from Bridge of Spies, Dr Arthey has been kept busy with book signings and press interviews about his work and has also spent two weeks in the USA on a panel at the Brooklyn Historical Society. Dr Arthey’s book details how William Fisher, as he was born, was the child of revolutionary parents who had fled tsarist oppression in Russia. He returned to his homeland when he was 18 and went on to embark on a mission to New York, where he ran the network that stole America’s atomic secrets.
In 1957, his luck ran out and he was arrested and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Five years later the USSR’s regard for Abel’s talents was proven when they insisted on swapping him for Gary Powers, the American whose spy plane was shot down in Soviet airspace.
Abel returned to Moscow, and the KGB. He had a wife and daughter there and died from cancer in 1971.
Latest news
More news
Teesside University academics join prestigious network of
...Research events
-
24 Apr 1.15PM - 2.00PM
The One Fifteen at MIMA: How can the world beneath our feet help to fight our climate crisis?
