Customer Reviews

The Spy Who Seduced America: Lies and Betrayal in the Heat of the Cold War: The Judith Coplon Story

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

 

 

I gave this book to a Russian-born friend (he jumped from a Soviet ship to live in the West some thirty years ago), because his family name is the same as one of the spies named in the book. He gave them back because the author's bias in favor of Coplon had made him sick. He said: "For me, that woman help to kill my family". That was how I learnt that his grandfather had been the son of a small shopkeeper before the Russian Revolution and so, a member of an "enemy" class, and that was enough for him, his wife and several other relatives to perish in the Gulag, at the time when Judith Coplon was helping the regime who did it. I think he has a point. Just like Hitler's genocide was possible because "ordinary" germans were willing to perpetrate it, Stalin could kill more than thirty million people because "ordinary" Russians, and Americans like Judith Coplon, and other nationals were willing to ignore, condone or aprove it.

Marcia Mitchell cannot ignore the evidence that probes Coplon's guilt beyond any reasonable doubt, so she tells us that she was a spy, but she never tells us that she was a traitor to her country or that she was helping the murderous regime of Stalin. Her sympathy for Coplon makes her draw each nice aspect of her with the rosiest colours, to make her look like the sweet, innocent victim she pretend to be at the time of her trial, and she goes ever farther. It is laughable when she claims that Coplon was severely punished because she could not leave on holidays with her family for many years. I think that even if the FBI was not a saint, there was a failure of justice because she was not punished for her crime.

The book leaves you with a feeling that you want to learn more about the human side of the case, but you feel that it is always cut short when something may not be favourable to Coplon. For example: was her husband really so naive (if you can call him that way) to believe in her innocence for fifty years?, what does he says now that all the evidence has come to light?, does he still denies his wife actions like others deny the Holocaust?

The fascinating and true case of Judith Coplon, who was arrested and charged with spying for the Russians against the US right after World War II, is a story which continued to unfold over a long period of time. For 18 years, the case was on hold, then dropped by Ramsey Clark, but interesting revelations have come forth quite recently. The Mitchells have done a masterful job of detailing this saga of love and betrayal, of guilt and innocence--some of the facts of this case still have powerful implications for today. This dramatic tale would make a wonderful film.

This is an amazing story, well told. The fact that Judith Coplon managed to maintain her innocence through two trials (which were as much theater of the absurd as anything), remained out on bail for 17 years after the verdicts in both cases were thrown out, and then through the ensuing 33 years is simply amazing, when in truth, she WAS a spy for the Soviet Union. Perhaps not one of their big ones, and perhaps a spy who never passed along much information or even particularly secret or damaging information, but a spy nonetheless. Despite despicable behavior on the part of the U.S. gov't (arrest without a warrant, illegal wiretapping, practically double-indemnity, and a vicious prosecutor who displayed Judith's sex-life in public, etc.), they were right, but they couldn't prove it without revealing the most damning secret of all--that the U.S. had cracked the Soviet code. Not until the secret files of the Venona Project were opened up in the last couple of years could the truth be known, long after most participants in the case were dead. But Judith Coplon is still alive, and her husband, who all along believed in her innocence (and was the attorney who launched her successful appeals) was shocked upon hearing the information. It IS like a Hitchcock thriller. Highly recommended for anyone interested in spies, the Cold War, or the FBI. And strangely relevant to readers today, as well.

Great story! Even more surprising that it is all true. A surprise ending for those of us who didn't live through the era. A good read for anyone who finds interest in U.S. history, good and bad actions by the government, or just good story-telling.

I don't know how this incredible story slipped through the cracks of history, but thank you to the Mitchells for recovering it! Reading this tale of covert (and criminal!) FBI action, of beautiful spies, and of hilarious lawyers, I can only wonder how long it will be until the movie comes out. Material this good doesn't come along too often!

This is a great book, true, well written, and at times hilarious. It completes the story of Judith Coplon, a story which had many of us guessing, and which was subject to political slanting by both liberals and conservatives. And, strangely, although the liberals were more graceful, it turns out that conservatives were right. The book illustrates the tragedy brought to an innocent and lovely family by the criminal actions of a brilliant and idealistic daughter. There are several interesting discussion possibilities that the book brings to the fore.

As a man who lived through the generation myself; i found this book a disgrace to our times. Judith Coplon was innocent and prejudiced against because of her religion and gender. The book is severly baised. Judith Coplon was as guilty as the moon is made of cheese.