Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring [Hardcover]

Pete Earley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1988

very good condition, dust cover slightly worn, initials by inside cover

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Based on family papers, wiretapped conversations, trial transcripts and interviews with the principals, this is the most comprehensive look we are likely to get at the inception and operation of what has been called the most damaging spy ring in America's history. The book is riveting on several levels: John Walker's uncanny ability to talk three people into betraying their country (his brother Arthur, son Michael and best friend Jerry Whitworth, all of whom, along with ringleader Walker, are now serving life sentences); the appalling ease with which top-secret documents were copied and passed along to the Soviets over a period of 17 years; Whitworth's withdrawal from the organization, his abortive attempt to blow the whistle and his subsequent effort to rejoin it; Barbara Walker's struggle to convince the FBI to believe her charges against her ex-husband; and John Walker's grotesque rationalizations and self-justification in his interviews with Earley. The Washington Post Magazine reporter has constructed a masterful psychological portrait of a man seemingly without a soul. A Family of Spies is a classic of the genre. Photos. First serial to the Washington Post; CBS-TV miniseries.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

"Of all the spies in America," said John Walker's KGB handler, "you, John, are the best!" In this journalistic account Earley (a former Washington Post staff writer) examines up close the evolution and self-destruction of this damaging collection of banal traitors. The story is sprinkled with tales of dead drops and top secret lists and packed with profanities. What Earley lacks in analysis, he makes up for in storytelling. Based on interviews with Walker, his family, and Jerry Whitworth (another key conspirator), and trial transcripts, this engrossing book compares favorably with Howard Blum's I Pledge Allegiance: The True Story of the Walker's (LJ 11/1/87) in discussing the psychological impact of the case. Recommended for general readers.John Yurechko, Georgetown Univ., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 385 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (October 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553052837
• ISBN-13: 978-0553052831
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,032,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Pete Earley is a former Washington Post reporter and a New York Times bestselling author. His book Circumstantial Evidence helped release an unfairly sentenced man and won the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice and an Edgar(r) Award.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Walker Exposed, March 28, 2007

By 

David Blackburst - See all my reviews

This review is from: Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring (Hardcover)

There are four full-length treatments of the Walker spy case> The first, by Jack Kneece is a well-done reporter's job, relying largely on trial transcripts, news clippings, and interviews with peripheral characters. The second, by intelligence expert John Barron, gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how the case was broken by the FBI, and an illuminating assessment of the damage done by the ring's treachery. The third, by Howard Blum, offers interviews with some of the participants, but suffers from a hard-to-read writing style, including the frequent - and excessive - use of the hyphenated aside.

Pete Earley has put it all together in a well-written book that offers all the needed details in a fast-paced narrative, which includes in-depth interviews with all the particpants except Whitworth. Most revealing are the interviews with Walker himself: He is shown to be a self-centered person with some bizarre personality conflicts. In candid and revealing rationalizations, Walker suggests that he was actually helping his family by involving them in espionage, indicates that he was annoyed that the FBI did not accept his suggestion that he become a "double-agent" after his arrest, and theorizes that he, himself, was the victim of some sort of set-up. Walker comes across as detached from reality.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Book, March 15, 2009

By 

William R. Drake (Nevada City, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the eighth true story spy book I have read in recent weeks, including two each about spies Robert Hanssen and Aldridge Ames.

The other reviews of this book on amazon.com give a very good sketch of the book as well as how it compares with other books on the Walker spy ring, so I won't repeat that information.

I just want to say that I found the book extremely riveting. More than any of the other books, when reading was interrupted by work or family, I could not wait to pick it up again and resume reading. The writer maintained my interest from start to finish. I loved it.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars portrait of treachery, September 13, 2004

By 

A. Tindell "ajtlawyer" (Richland, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring (Hardcover)

"Family of Spies" is an excellent account of the Walker family spy ring, perhaps the most devastating spy ring ever to operate in the USA, certainly within the US Navy. One is constantly amazed in this book by the extent of John Walker, Jr.'s treachery, deceitfulness and total psychpathology. There isn't a person he doesn't try to use, a life he doesn't try to destroy.

It also shows the utter incompetence of US military intelligence security. Walker, his son Michael, and his main accomplice, Jerry Whitworth, stole secrets with impunity and never came close to being caught until Walker's ex-wife turned them all in. Michael was working in secure areas with access to all sorts of classified materials and didn't even have a security clearance--no one bothered to check to see if he had one. Walker faked his way through a regular five-year security background check just by forging an "approved" stamp for under $3.00 and stamping his personnel file.

The book is well-written and fast-paced. Michael Walker served 15 yrs of a 25 yr sentence and is now free but his father deservedly remains in prison.