Treason: How a Russian Spy Led an American Journalist to a U.S. Double Agent [Hardcover]

Bill Powell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002

A high-level Russian spy secretly working for the CIA is betrayed and arrested in Moscow. In Washington, counterintelligence agents search for a traitor in the upper reaches of the CIA. In the middle of it all is an American reporter whose chance encounter leads to the discovery of a double agent in the very heart of the American intelligence community. "Treason" is award-winning reporter Bill Powell's dramatic account of how he became involved in one of the highest-profile U.S. mole hunts of recent decades.

Vyacheslav Baranov had just been released from a prison camp in Siberia when he walked into "Newsweek" bureau chief Bill Powell's office in Moscow in the summer of 1998. A former colonel in the GRU, the Soviet Union's once-feared military intelligence agency, Baranov had also been one of the highest-ranking spies on the CIA's payroll when he was arrested six years earlier. Baranov was convinced he had been betrayed, and the question that obsessed him -- and that would thrust Powell into the spying game -- was, by whom?

"Treason" begins on the day Baranov walked into Powell's office, unannounced, saying he had a story Powell would find interesting. Powell was skeptical of Baranov's tale of spying for the CIA and being mishandled by the agency, but he was intrigued and agreed to see Baranov again. Over the course of several weeks, then months, as it became clear to him that Baranov was credible, Powell realized that he might have an extraordinary news story. Little did he know that his meetings with Baranov would put him in the middle of a top-secret mole hunt.

The CIA had assumed that Baranov was one of more than a dozen Soviet double agents who had been betrayedby Aldrich Ames, a former counterintelligence officer in the agency's directorate of operations, who himself had been arrested by the FBI for spying for Moscow. Baranov had another theory about who had betrayed him, and through Powell -- his only means of communicating with the U.S. government -- he managed to pass crucial information to the FBI that convinced its mole hunters that he was right.

A story of intrigue and furtive meetings with secret agents in Moscow, New York, Crete, Moldova, and Bangladesh, "Treason" recounts how Baranov was first recruited to spy for the GRU, and then by the CIA to spy for the United States. It describes the murky and dangerous world of spies and counterspies -- a world in which it is never clear whom you can trust -- as well as the lonely life of a double agent. It is also an eye-opening account of how the United States handles -- and sometimes mishandles -- its double agents. And it is a vivid firsthand account of what can happen when the worlds of journalism and espionage collide.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The spy game is a messy business-and it's also a game the CIA doesn't always seem to play so well. As Newsweek Moscow bureau chief in the late 90s, Powell met Vyacheslav Baranov, an ex-spy with a remarkable story to tell. An up-and-coming operative in the GRU (the Russian military intelligence unit), Baranov had been sent to pose as a businessman in Bangladesh while monitoring illegal weapons movements. Unhappy with the corrupt Soviet regime, he agreed to become a double agent after being approached by an American operative. He passed along little information, however, as the CIA consistently bungled its communications. Arrested by the KGB in 1992 for espionage, he was sent to a Siberian work camp for five years; after his release, he set out to discover who fingered him to the authorities. Russian moles Aldridge Ames and Robert Hanssen were quickly ruled out as whistle blowers-which suggested that a high-profile Russian agent remained at work in the American intelligence community. A speedy, gripping read, the book nevertheless leaves many unanswered questions. How could the CIA ignore a former GRU operative who wanted to give up the goods? How could men like Ames and Hanssen have operated so successfully for so long without being caught? Who betrayed Baranov? Is the mole still at large? Powell and Baranov tirelessly sought the answers to these questions, but unfortunately, they were stonewalled at every turn. 8 pages b&w photos.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

''The spy game is a messy business-and it's also a game the CIA doesn't always seem to play so well. As Newsweek Moscow bureau chief in the late 90s, Powell met Vyacheslav Baranov, an ex-spy with a remarkable story to tell. An up-and-coming operative in the GRU (the Russian military intelligence unit), Baranov had been sent to pose as a businessman in Bangladesh while monitoring illegal weapons movements. Unhappy with the corrupt Soviet regime, he agreed to become a double agent after being approached by an American operative. He passed along little information, however, as the CIA consistently bungled its communications. Arrested by the KGB in 1992 for espionage, he was sent to a Siberian work camp for five years; after his release, he set out to discover who fingered him to the authorities. Russian moles Aldridge Ames and Robert Hanssen were quickly ruled out as whistle blowers-which suggested that a high-profile Russian agent remained at work in the American intelligence community. A speedy, gripping read, the book nevertheless leaves many unanswered questions. How could the CIA ignore a former GRU operative who wanted to give up the goods? How could men like Ames and Hanssen have operated so successfully for so long without being caught? Who betrayed Baranov? Is the mole still at large? Powell and Baranov tirelessly sought the answers to these questions, but unfortunately, they were stonewalled at every turn.'' --Publishers Weekly --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1St Edition edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743229150
• ISBN-13: 978-0743229159
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,523,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars was this really worth a book?, May 12, 2003

By 

Richard Thomas (washington, dc) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Treason: How a Russian Spy Led an American Journalist to a U.S. Double Agent (Hardcover)

I left reading Powell's "Treason" wondering if his story was really worthy of a book. An meaty article in some highbrow magazine, surely, but a book?

Powell describes his involvement with bringing a Soviet turncoat, GRU Colonel Baranov, in from the cold. Baranov, disgruntled with the crumbling Soviet system, agreed to spy for the CIA. However, before he was able to do much of anything for the CIA, he was outed as a traitor. The book describes Baranov's career, and then Powell's efforts to bring the government into investigating the circumstances surrounding Baranov's arrest, almost certainly the work of a spy in the United States who betrayed Baranov to Moscow.

The main problem with the book is that it ends inconclusively. We never learn who betrayed Baranov. Furthermore, Baranov himself makes for a rather uninteresting subject of study when it comes to espionage, because his career as a traitor inside the GRU and agent for the CIA was over immediately after it began.

Readers will learn something about how spies like Baranov are recruited and operate - both into the intelligence services and then into betraying their countries. They will also learn a good bit about journalistic ethics and espionage (the book's high point). Another strong point is getting what is essentially a street level account of how badly the CIA can bungle seemingly routine tasks.

Overall, the book is well-written, and Baranov's story is a good one. I just don't think it was worth of a full-fledged book, even a short one like "Treason."

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars INteresting read, December 6, 2002

By 

Frank ROgers (ENcino, Ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Treason: How a Russian Spy Led an American Journalist to a U.S. Double Agent (Hardcover)

THis is an interesting read that raises questions about the lines a journalist should--or should not cross--when dealing with intelligence agents. I'm not sure that issue is addressed sufficiently here, in fact. Though the ending is a bit of a letdown, the story itself does draw the reader in and is unique enough to be of interest both to readers interested in spy stories as well as journalism. AN easy short read, so I recommend it.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating story by a real journalist, November 1, 2002

By 

Krodina Gao (PHILADELPHIA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Treason: How a Russian Spy Led an American Journalist to a U.S. Double Agent (Hardcover)

A fascinating story by a real journalist