Customer Reviews

Spy Book

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

SPY BOOK, with 2500 entries packed into one big paperback, is an exceptionally handy reference tool, but still far from a complete encyclopedia of espionage. For example, a photo display on page 513 shows Soviet postage stamps honoring the intelligence officers Stanislav Vaupshasov, Rudolf Abel, Konon Molody, Richard Sorge and Ivan Kudrya, plus British agent Kim Philby. If you look for an entry on each of these men, you will find it--except for Kudrya. At the place where he should appear you will see: Kryuchkov, Vladimir... Kuczynski, Dr. Jürgen... Kuczynski, Robert René... Kuczynski, Ursula... Kuehn, Dr. Bernard... Kuklinski, Col. Ryszard... A rather full listing within such a small range of the alphabet, but still no cigar. Turn the page, and you'll discover no listing for Leonid Kvasnikov, head of the Soviet "technical department" (atomic espionage) in the US during WWII--a rather serious omission.

A quick check for other names that come to mind reveals that most are represented, but Dmitry Bystrolyotov, Pavel Fitin, Vera Goutchkoff (Guchkova) and Jan Valtin (Richard Krebs) are missing. Each scholar of espionage who comes to the book will probably add a half dozen names to this list. There is an entry on Vasili Mitrokhin, the KGB archivist who brought thousands of copied documents out to the West in 1992, but no entry for Melita Norwood, the chief British spy he exposed. (Her story broke in 1999; Mitrokin, incidentally, is given the first name "Nikitish," which was his patronymic.) There is an entry on Los Alamos, but no separate entries for the Manhattan Project, Tube Alloys or General Leslie Groves, who was not a spy but did head America's most secret wartime project. Most entries fail to conclude with a citation of the literature on the subject. The bibliography and list of VENONA codenames at the back are fairly random selections, not the last word.

The edition I consulted is the second from 2004, and it is mostly up to date, but some information is hoary. The VENONA project, much studied and publicized after the National Security Agency released its documents to the public in 1995-1996, is represented with a full entry, but many figures involved in it (such as Fitin) are given short shrift. Theodore Hall, exposed in 1996 as the Soviet agent MLAD, receives a suitable entry; but Morris and Leontina Cohen are described only with outdated material from the 1960s (as the Krogers). Anatoly Yatskov, control officer of Lona Cohen when she carried Hall's drawing of the plutonium bomb from Albuquerque to New York, is not described in this role (nor is she), but appears only as Anatoli Yakovlev, the pseudonym he used in the USA, and as the control officer of Harry Gold--information from the time of the Rosenbergs' trial.

Despite such lacks, the book is good to have when you need to grab some basic facts in a hurry, as when in the heat of writing. It appears to be strongest in US intelligence. For example, I found the entry on William Donovan very full and illuminating. There are many interesting photographs and some box-charts of organizational structures, plus lists of CIA and KGB directors, and explanations of tradecraft terms. The layout is attractive and conveys a sense of enthusiasm. All in all, it does a better job than previous spy encyclopedias, and so is well worth having. But too many spies get away.

A book of information of people, places, code names, etc. relating to spying, including very early items with descriptions and history. A query once found, leads to cross references and provokes further reading in this book, and into other books. Names well known people and their contribution to spying, and the contribution of private citizens also. Each item is well written and full of unexpected, details, history, and information. Presents code names and describes the activity for which the code was used. Very useful for anyone interested in spies and spying preceeding war time, in war time, and in peace time also.

Few books on spycraft or actual spy cases capture a reader as well as a spy novel. This book however does that and more--it grabs you.

With numerous discusions of famous and not so famous spy cases, spy rings, and spys, you will find yourself flipping through the book, tying the pieces together. Written much like a web site, the first time an encyclopedia entry appears within another entry, it appears in a special font. This allows the reader to flip from one story to another.

Much of the appeal of the book comes from its currency. Events as recent as the second half of 1996 made it into the book, yet there is in-depth coverage of every major exposed spy-ring throughout the 1900s. Additionally, any spymaster of repute throughout history also receives an entry (such as Moses and George Washington).

In addition to the spys and their work, detailed information is provided about their agencies such as the KGB, MI6, and the CIA), and the locales in which they operated (e.g., Cambridge, Berlin, and Vienna.)

I can't give a stronger endorsement to any work. This beats Clancy, LeCarre, Fleming, and Deighton, hands down. The saying, "Fact is stranger than fiction," is never truer than in the story where a CIA operative created added distrust and confusion between two factions by having his agents kill people in such a way that it appeared one faction was composed of Vampires.

Don't miss the Literary Spies section which includes information not only on your favorite fictional spies, but also on famous authors (such as Somerset Maugham) who actually spied themselves.
-dave medberry mailto:david.medberry@mci2000.com

This book was written with the cooperation of the establishment. As a result it is somewhat biased. For instance we are not told in the article about Angelton that he was kicked out for being a failure at his job. During the last 10 years of his career, every Soviet defector that he claimed was genuine was a Soviet plant. Every one he claimed was a plant was genuine. After he was fired his safe was cut open and found to contain many year old evidence that he did not act on but when followed up was used to catch several Soviet spies.
The article on Agee, who was a despicable person, falsely claims that he was the one who first revealed the identity of the Athens CIA head of station. Several heads of station had lived in the same house. Every taxi driver knew the identity. The house was the worst possible choice for a CIA person to live in. It was at the end of a dead end street and was so secluded that any illegal activities such as kidnapping or murder would go un-witnessed by others.

The author gives misleading information to the effect that once the contents of a classified photo appear in some other public photo the classified photo should be declassified. This would allow the method of taking the photo to be deduced and future photos of equipment using that method would be blocked.

This book has everything anyone could want to know about spying covered in a easy encyclopedia format. Russian, American, Israeli, everything is here! Most entries also have interesting stories behind them.

Huge amounts of information on devices, people, places, events, etc. that will leave the reader wanting more. After reading the intro and leafing through the rest, I knew it was a cover to cover must! Great for Cold War buffs.

I cannot believe two Military historians wrote a reference book leaving out importnat birthdates, places and regions where most of the spys they cited grew up. For example, Claire George an outstanding American was cited, but no birthdates, hometown, educational background or region he came from was even listed, yet they claim they are historians. I know they may try to defend their poor research by saying spies hide their backgrounds but most of this information is readily available from easy sources. Consequently, I question the accuracy, research and details of a book that could have been great, but is only good for as a children's guide to Espionage from ages 10 through 14. Sorry, I expected more and want a discount for what I paid.

I had checked it out in a library and I couldn't put it down. I think it is the best spy book ever, but don't take my word for it, check it out.

An amusing read by this outsider observer of the community. I showed this book to an ex-member of the community and they "asked the right question." "Does it define the Intelligence Cycle?"

The one major short coming (4.5 stars) is that it could have said more about the role of Canada and the CSE and their other units. These have had documentation and this is one of those areas where the Web excells.