military science

This book is a minor contribution to the history of the Cold War. I found herein a multitude of questions answered that had been nagging me for years. Such as the Duncan Lee story. That said, this is not a definitive history. We will wait a long time for that maybe twenty years after all the Soviet Archives have been mined. The authors have taken all the names that were revealed in the Venona materials by the US government. They took advanage of a brief window of opportunity to get in the Soviet Archives before access was again restricted. Then they collated all of this, sorted out the names into topical chapters, researched as much as could be done to briefly discuss each person, and then put it all together. Because this is based only on individuals mentioned in the Venona intercepts, the story is spotty, incomplete, and sketchy in places. This is more a volume to consult for names seen elsewhere than to read straight through. It is far from a bedside thriller or a "good read." Workmanlike but not all inclusive. Did what they intended.

Speaking as someone who taught US History in California schools for a short time, I can attest that this book reveals facts that reverse much of what is taught in our high schools.

As an example, the case of the Rosenbergs being convicted of espionage is explained as an extremist reaction that had no legal merit. This book exposes the truth that the Rosenbergs were deep in the network of soviet espionage that has existed since the 1920s.

Its amazing to read the stories of agent after agent that worked in nearly every level of American government. From the most sensitive to the most politically charged events... a soviet spy was not far.

The techniques and style of soviet espionage leaves one looking at todays situation and thinking, if that is what the soviets did then, imagine what China, North Korea, Iraq or Syria could be doing now.

If you have any interest in espionage, its history or how nations deal with each other, you can't afford to leave this off your must read list.

In 1943, the U.S. Navy intercepted word that Josef Stalin was going to sue for a separate peace with Adolf Hitler. They also discovered that Alger Hiss, a leading New Deal Democrat and top advisor to President Roosevelt, was a Soviet spy. In addition, numerous high-level Democrats in FDR's Administration were Soviet spies and "fellow travelers." They approached FDR, whose response was "f--k off." The Navy, during this time of greatest national security threat, reached the conclusion that the Democrats could not be trusted! In response to this, they began the Venona Project, designed to read all the Soviet cable dispatches. Venona continued to confirm that the American government and society was rife with Soviet espionage from within the ranks of the anti-American Democrat Left.

When the war ended, the Republicans began to investigate these rumors. Richard Nixon asked FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to assist. Hoover told him he could not let him view Venona because it was too important to the on-going Cold War vs. Soviet Communism, but that Nixon's instincts, particularly about Hiss, were right. Hiss was convicted. Numerous Leftists were convicted or exposed, as were many in Hollywood. When McCarthy went after them, the Left attempted to discredit him. Venona would have justified him, but Hoover refused to disclose Venona's secret. McCarthy was sacrificed and allowed to twist in the end, and for decades the Left proffered the lie that there were no Communists in Hollywood, the government, the Army or in America.

After Ronald Reagan won the Cold War, Soviet archives were opened. Venona was discovered and became the Venona Papers. It verified that Hiss and all the accused and convicted Communists in Hollywood, the government, the Army and in America were in fact Soviet spies or "fellow travelers." One of those fellow travelers had escaped to Russia, but returned when the Statute of Limitations ran out. He returned to the U.S. in 1996. He was asked why.

"To vote for Bill Clinton," he replied.

Is further commentary really necessary?(...)