Category: Non Fiction

Non fiction books

America, Trump, and the future of the United States

July 8, 2023 / R. R. / 0 Comments

One Damn Thing After Another: Memoirs of an Attorney General

William P. Barr (HarperCollins)

A fascinating and important read

In my opinion, everyone should read this book. It’s not just about the Trump Administration; Barr carefully highlights some of the most vital contemporary issues that are central to the future success and prosperity of the United States. Even if you don’t usually read political books, absolutely read this one.

What’s it about?

If you want to understand the Trump phenomenon, you absolutely have to read this book. The book is written by Bill Barr, for whom I already had a high regard. Barr served as attorney general two times: once under President George H.W. Bush, then under President Donald Trump.

The earlier commentary on the Bush Administration is interesting but it was the Trump material that was fascinating. Barr works methodically through a number of critical issues and developments, from the Mueller report through to the January 6 debacle. Everything Barr says leads me to the belief that Trump accomplished some great things, completely lacked discipline, and engaged in self-destructive behavior.

Mueller report

Like everyone, I wondered whether Trump could adjust to life as a president in contrast to the outside rebel persona he had built. I admit that I found it encouraging that he didn’t follow through on the “Lock her up” promises of his campaign. Ultimately, that seemed a very presidential decision to me. Interestingly, Barr also brings out this point, noting Trump’s comments that: “Even if she were guilty, he said, for the election winner to seek prosecution of the loser would make the country look like a ‘banana republic.‘”

Regrettably, Trump’s many opponents took a different view, and this has no doubt caused enormous damage to the American political system. I found Barr’s comments on the Mueller work to be informative because he highlights that Mueller pursued “an almost two-year investigation based on an esoteric, untenable obstruction theory. Mueller never seems to have paused to consider the sheer injustice of it all.” In essence, Trump was subjected to false accusations and a media frenzy that severely impeded the ability of his administration to function. This is not the type of behavior that one expects in the world’s leading democracy.

Decision-making

The book sheds great light on the way in which the president functioned. Although he often had great ideas, it was concerning, but not surprising, to read that he “tended to shop around for legal advice until he found someone who told him what he wanted to hear.” Throughout the book there is a common theme: to his detriment, Trump listened to Trump, and frequently ignored the experts around him whose advice would have prevented many of the self-inflicted wounds he incurred.

People

I found it really interesting to read Barr’s insights on Trump’s views on his supporters. Barr makes clear that Trump was genuinely committed to the American workers whom he believed had been ignored by the political elites. Ironically, as Barr notes, this commitment to prioritizing his base likely caused him to lose the 2020 election because he failed to engage in the necessary efforts to win back the moderate voters.

Conversely, it’s quite shocking to see how Trump treated his own team. Any book on good leadership will tell you the importance of building a team. Trump seems to have taken the approach that his team was there to serve him and that they were all expendable. One of Barr’s comments is particularly damning. He states that “People are worthwhile to Trump only as a means to his ends. When they don’t helm him get what he wants, they are useless.” My observations on the way Trump treated his loyal VP Mike Pence lead me to believe Barr’s assertion.

Religious freedom

One of the most powerful chapters of the book is Barr’s discussion of the importance of religious freedom. He notes the attack on religion that has been carried out by the progressive movement. Perhaps most compelling is his argument that the progressive movement, having removed religion, has sought to impose its own non-religious belief system, which is a form of religion in itself. His comments here are both insightful and warrant greater consideration both by political and legal leaders. In fact, this may be the most important comment he makes in the entire book:

“The objective is no longer secularization by subtraction. Now we see a mounting effort to affirmatively indoctrinate children with the secular progressive belief system – a new official secular ideology. … But secular values are not religiously neutral ones. On the contrary, today’s progressive secular ideology is premised on ideas about the nature of man, the universe, man’s duties, and the purpose of life that are a substitute for, and subversive of, a religious outlooks, especially the traditional Judeo-Christian worldview.”

China

Another crucial chapter is the one that focuses on the rise of China. In this regard, Barr notes the major but often understated threat that China presents to the US. Notably, Barr points out that it will take bipartisan commitment to resolve this issue. He highlights that Americans are going to have to work together or watch China become the dominant power in the world. I think this is a vital point and one that our current political leadership seems unable and unwilling to address.

Big Tech and the media

Barr makes great comments on the role of Big Tech, particularly the way in which our system supported their rise to “hegemonic power.” It is this power, he notes, that they now employ to censor political views with which they disagree. In this regard, I believe Barr has highlighted one of the most crucial issues of our day. Until we have a more balanced press again, we are mere steps away from becoming another political system in which there is only one acceptable view to which all citizens must adhere.

Barr’s subsequent chapters on the COVID pandemic, and the role of race in police shootings, serve as examples of the biased media reporting that now characterizes America. In particular, Barr points out the media hypocrisy in fueling the narrative that police had unfairly shot Jacob Blake in Kenosha, WI. In actuality, he notes, Blake had a knife and was the subject of a felony warrant for sexual assault. His wife had called the police on him because Blake was attempting to steal her car and had the three children in the car. Blake had been tasered, he had overpowered police, and was attempting to get into the car and drive away – as Barr notes, the police were in the impossible position of having to stop him. Nonetheless, the media wanted to sell clicks by creating an alternate narrative. It’s hard to read this and not feel a deep distrust of our media, which seems to have sold out all ethics for the sake of immediate profit.

Final thoughts

Barr concludes the book with the election loss and its aftermath. Most notably, Barr asserts that Trump was his own worst enemy with his pettiness, egotism, unwillingness to listen and adjust, and the fact that his behavior repelled moderate voters. I am convinced that Barr is absolutely right.

Despite Trump’s many personal failures, I agree with Barr’s assessment that Trump was unfairly treated by the media and political elites who collectively undermined his presidency. Accordingly, I will close this review with Barr’s comments on one of Trump’s major accomplishments:

“Trump exposed the media and the cultural elites as the outright partisans they have long been – mere extensions of the Democratic Party.”

Secrets, lies and betrayal: Who betrayed Anne Frank?

July 9, 2022 / R. R. / 0 Comments

The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation

Rosemary Sullivan (HarperCollins)

This is an outstanding non-fiction mystery story. Most people know the basics of the Anne Frank story. Anne and her family were Jews living in Amsterdam when the Nazis conquered the Netherlands. They went into hiding in the annex behind her father’s business premises. They hid there for a long two years and thirty days, during which time Anne kept a diary. On August 4, 1944, the Nazis raided the annex in response to a tip that there were Jews hiding there. Anne and her family were deported to Auschwitz, where her mother perished. Anne and her sister died in Bergen-Belsen. Only her father, Otto, survived. In a fascinating twist of fate, the book reveals that two days before the liberation of the Auscwitz camp, Otto “had been in a lineup awaiting execution when Russian soldiers had approached, sending the SS firing squad running for cover.”

What we don’t know

The Nazis were skilled in tracking down Jews in hiding. Two of their favorite techniques were to offer a bounty to those who reported Jews (Kopgeld), and to bargain with those who had been captured to report on their fellows Jews in hiding. Tragically, betrayal was commonplace, even among the Jews themselves.

What no one knows is who tipped off the Nazis that there eight Jews hiding in the annex.

The book recounts the work of the team of investigators, led by retired FBI undercover agent, Vince Pankoke. For six years this team crawled over historical documents, searched through archives, interviewed survivors, and put together their best guess on who betrayed the Frank family. The story is a fascinating read as the author takes us through the examination of multiple leads, culminating with their final decision.

So who did it? (Spoiler Alert)

The team identifies the betrayer as Arnold van den Bergh, one of only seven Dutch-Jewish notaries in the Netherlands. The book explains that the notary role was very different to the role of a notary in the US. This role was highly prestigious and notaries were present at all manner of events, from marriages to business creation to property transactions. Van den Bergh has lost his position as a notary because of his Jewish heritage and the investigators believed that he traded away a list of addresses where Jews were in hiding in order to save his own life, and that of his wife and three daughters. Tragically, the address of the annex was one of those on the list.

So did he really do it? The only people who really know the answer to this question have all died. However, the book presents some compelling evidence in support of this conclusion.

Three things I learned

First, the investigators concluded that Otto ultimately knew who had betrayed them. He had been tipped off by an anonymous note that pointed out van den Bergh. However, Otto consistently refused to identify the betrayer, and expressed that he did not want the betrayers family to suffer for what had been done. This is indeed a noble gesture.

Second, the use of Jews who turned traitor was quite shocking to me. The book recounts multiple V-men and women – Jews who had been identified but to save themselves, went undercover to help sniff out other Jews in hiding. One of the most notorious — — was executed in Amers

Third, the division among the Dutch citizens was more pronounced than I realized. There were many who assisted the Nazis, either actively or by merely looking the other way, or even enriched themselves openly at the expense of the Jews who lived among them. But then there was the resistance movement and the Dutch citizens who became “hiders”. These were the people who risked their own lives to frustrate the Nazi machine and save the lives of thousands of Jews who depended on them. Related to this, the book brings through the sense of dependency that Otto felt. In a short space of time he went from being a prosperous and successful businessmen, to someone whose life depended on the goodwill of his former employees and friends.

Concluding thoughts

My first instinct at the thought of van den Bergh betraying his fellow Jews was one of disgust. How could he do it? But Otto’s willingness to forgive and the books concluding comment on this is quite compelling. The author notes that:

Like Otto Frank, his goal was simple: to save his family. That he succeeded while Otto failed is a terrible fact of history.

While I can see this point, I remain unconvinced of the moral equivalency of Otto Frank and Arnold van den Bergh. It’s true that Otto did everything he could do survive and to protect his family — but it didn’t come at the cost of the lives of other Jews. In contrast, van den Bergh sold out countless other Jews to save his own life and his family. Ultimately, he collaborated with the Nazis for personal gain and, in that regard, he was a traitor rather than a hero.

Wake up! The urgent need to fight identity politics madness

March 27, 2022 / R. R. / 0 Comments

The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity

Douglas Murray (Bloomsbury Continuum: London, UK)

Listen up

When a gay man writes a book explaining how “woke” culture is destroying society, it’s time to listen. We have a desperate societal problem and Douglas Murray sums it up nicely. Society has a new ideology – identity politics – and it’s about pushing us apart, not pulling us together. It’s about virtue signaling that leads to the problems being overstated and it’s about destroying (not just silencing) contrary opinions.

Everyone in our society needs to read this book … and listen to the advice

Ideology

Murray explores four areas (or perhaps movements) – gay, women, race and trans. One of the core points he makes is that in every case, these movements started with a legitimate cause: basically, that all people deserve to be treated fairly. He notes, however, that in each case, there has been a tendency to overcorrect. In this respect, he makes a pertinent comment:

“What this has done in fact is merely tell some groups in society that they are of less value than other groups: that men are not as smart as women, that white people are more to be disparaged than black people, and that heterosexuality is really just a bit dull and embarrassing.”

He makes a great point. This overcorrection simply reverses the discrimination; and this discrimination is equally abhorrent as the original.

What defines us?

I also liked how Murray made the point that people are more complex than simply their gender, race or sexual orientation. And yet this movement focuses entirely on splitting us apart on the basis of these qualities. Why not instead look to the things that unite us and define our common humanity?

Cancel culture

Murray makes a great point here where he notes that people are routinely cancelled for things that they said years ago that may have been the prevailing logic of that time! For example, he notes that some people are vilified as being “homophobic” because they opposed gay marriage years ago, even though that was the majority view at the time, and a perspective shared by no less than President Obama!

Further, he highlights the risk that every one of us takes each time we express an opinion today because we cannot be certain how well that opinion will be viewed in future decades!

What a crazy situation we find ourselves in.

Change matters & it’s urgent

I strongly agree with Murray’s comment that:

“What has become clear in the last year, however, is the urgency of coming up with solutions to the ulta-divisiveness that identity politics has created in our societies.”

He’s absolutely right. We need to radically rethink how we’re approaching each other in western society. We cannot continue to divide into tribes and view other tribes as the enemy. Our political leaders are going to have to step up and say “enough” — the political gamesmanship of identity politics may help win elections but it is destroying our society.

The Shocking Secrets of Sonya the Soviet Spy

December 27, 2021 / R. R. / 0 Comments

Agent Sonya: The Spy Next Door

Ben Macintyre (Penguin Random House, NY)

Disclosure: You can borrow books from your local library at no charge. You can buy books from Amazon or elsewhere. Sometimes I buy books to keep; many times I borrow books from the library. In my blog, I provide a link to books on Amazon. If you buy after clicking through to Amazon via one of these links, I receive a commission

What’s it about?

It’s the fascinating true story of Ursula Kaczynski — code name Sonya — who spied for the Soviet Union before, during and after World War II. Despite being Jewish, she became an avowed communist, going on to spy for the Soviets in China, Poland, Switzerland, and the UK.

What was her biggest impact?

Without doubt, her most devastating contribution to the Cold War was the work she did in running Klaus Fuchs, one of the expert western scientists building the atomic bomb. The material Fuchs provided enabled the Soviets to catch up and build their own atomic weaponry.

A fascinating true spy story

Was she ever caught?

No. The book brings to light the shocking incompetence of the spy catchers in MI5. They consistently missed meaningful clues and failed to capitalize on the opportunities that came their way. Ultimately, after Klaus Fuchs was caught and Ursula knew that her cover was almost certainly blown, she fled to East Germany where she made her new home for the remainder of her life. She died in her eighties in 2000, an acclaimed Soviet hero.

What was the most shocking part of the book?

One might assume that it was the many affairs and lovers she had but that wasn’t it. It was the fact that she continued to believe in communism long after it had become clear to her that it was a failed philosophy. In East Germany she saw first hand the devastating consequences of the communist system in action and yet she still believed.

Most powerful quote?

“She spent her adult life fighting for something she believed to be right, and died knowing that much of it had been wrong” (Chapter 24).

Was it worth reading?

Absolutely. Ben Macintyre is a brilliant writer. The book is incredibly well researched and is a fascinating read. There are parts that get a little dry to read but they are nonetheless important parts of the overall story. Ultimately, it’s an amazing account of the critical role that Sonya played in Cold War history and the way in which the great minds of the spy world overlooked her, largely because she was a woman and a mother.

Benghazi: What Every American Should Know About What Happened

July 18, 2021 / R. R. / 0 Comments

“13 Hours in Benghazi: The Inside Account of What Really Happened”

Mitchell Zuckoff with the Annex Security Team (Twelve, NY)

This is a compelling, raw, and impactful read. If you’re like me, you’ve heard lots about the Benghazi disaster via the media but this brings it into a much sharper focus. The book notes that it is not designed to point blame but it’s tough to read this and not want answers and accountability.

What I learned

Benghazi is the second major city in Libya. The late dictator, Gaddafi, pretty much crushed Benghazi and favored Tripoli. The Libyan uprising against Gaddafi began in Benghazi.

The US had an embassy in Tripoli and a Special Mission in Benghazi, located inside a compound. Close to the compound, was the CIA Annex. The US Ambassador, Chris Stevens, seemed like a genuine guy and wanted to support the people of Benghazi.

The US created a Global Response Staff (GRS) after 9/11 to protect US operations and personnel in dangerous locations. These included CIA security people and former military “special operators” who were contractors. The GRS in Benghazi were located in the CIA Annex. The CIA base chief is known only as “Bob.” That’s a good thing, because readers are left with a very poor impression of Bob.

The Benghazi operation were also protected by local “friendly” Libyan forces called the 17 February militia and hired local Libyan (unarmed) security. Both of these local forces seemed to be unreliable and unpredictable.

The main players

The contract operators are Rone, Jack, Tig, D.B., Tanto, and Oz. These guys are tough. Forget everything you’ve heard about tough before — these guys are at a new level.

Chris Stevens, the US Ambassadors, comes across as a really impressive individual. At one point, the book mentions that “Outside the view of reporters, he met with fellow diplomats and Libyans of high and low station, from government ministers to local officials, powerful businessmen to small shopkeepers … Often Stevens’ contacts grew so comfortable in his presence that they dispensed with titles altogether, and used his first name” (chapter 3).

Interestingly, Stevens had previously asked for increased security in Libya but this had been denied.

The Attack

In September, Stevens visited the Special Mission in Benghazi to participate at a ribbon cutting event at a local school. His visit had been reported in the media and he brought two security officers with him.

On the morning of September 11, a Libyan national was observed scouting out and photographing the compound from a neighboring building.

Around 9pm, the Ambassador went to his room for the evening. Shortly after that, armed attackers stormed the compound, the gates were opened, the Libyan guards disappeared, and the attackers began setting fire to the building in which the Ambassador was staying. In panic, the Americans in the compound contacted Tripoli and Washington and sought safety in the “safe haven” within the compound.

In a stunning turn of events, the operators in the annex, who had geared up and were ready to rush to the compound, were told to stand down by the CIA chief, Bob. He insisted that he wanted the local Libyan forces to resolve the problem. He didn’t want the operators involved. Frustrated, the operators stood by as they heard the desperate radio calls from the trapped Americans who were under attack and unable to escape.

In the compound safe haven, the Ambassador and two of his security team were battling smoke inhalation and desperately seeking a way out of the building. In the smoke and confusion, the ambassador and one of the team, Sean Smith, became separated. Neither would survive the attack.

Back at the annex, some 20 minutes after receiving the first calls, the operators defied the CIA boss and set out for the compound. In the ensuring 13 hours, the team, with reinforcements from Tripoli, rescued the surviving Americans and returned to the Annex. Despite desperate attempts, no one was able to locate the ambassador from the burning building but they did recover the body of Sean Smith.

Back at the Annex, the exhausted team braced for another attack. The attack came in the former of mortar fire, which killed one of the operators (Rone) and one of the Tripoli team (Glen Doherty), and seriously wounded another (Oz). Finally, support arrived and evacuated the surviving Americans to the airport.

Libyan nationals recovered the body of the ambassador and returned it to the Americans.

What was shocking?

The most shocking thing was the decision of the CIA boss not to send in the operators to rescue the Americans in the compound. The operators believed this cost lives. Referring to one of the operators, the author notes:

“He believed that Sean Smith wouldn’t be dead and Chris Stevens wouldn’t be missing , if only they’d rushed to the Compound when they first jocked up.” (chapter 10).

It was also stunning that back in the US, the Obama Administration was selling the story that the attack was unplanned and was the result of a demonstration against an anti-Muslim video. In reality, this appeared to be a well-planned and orchestrated account, a position the Administration was later forced to admit.

Concluding thoughts

It’s a long book but it’s absolutely worth reading. It’s compelling because it really happened and it was the first time the US had lost an ambassador since the 1970s.

The commitment of the operators and the other security team members was amazing. It’s a miracle that the US didn’t lose more people in the incident.

In Memory of the four Americans and seven Libyans who paid the ultimate price:

J. Christopher Stevens

Sean Smith

Tyrone (Rone) Woods

Glen (Bub) Doherty

The Book

The Movie

The 5 best things I learned from “Great Leaders Have No Rules” (Kevin Kruse)

January 1, 2021 / R. R. / 0 Comments

“Great Leaders Have No Rules: Contrarian Leadership Principles to Transform Your Team and Business”

Kevin Kruse (Rodale)

4.5 out of 5.0 stars4.5

I don’t necessarily agree with the “contrarian” or “no rules” description but the lessons here are extremely valuable. Anyone can learn from them. In fact, I particularly liked the way in which the author provides a section called “The Takeaway” at the end of every chapter. These takeaways are specifically tailored to managers, sales professionals, sports coaches, military, parents, and individuals. Basically, there’s something here for everyone. It’s well worth a read.

Sometimes it feels like the author is name-dropping and at first that annoyed me. However, I started to see that by drawing on a wide range of leaders, the author is able to present a more meaningful summation of good leadership thinking.

There’s so much here that everyone will take something different from the book. For me, the five best lessons the author presents were:

Be more intentional about open door and closed door office times. This will allow you to increase productivity while still be accessible. “If your door is always open, even figuratively, you never know what your day is going to look like. In contrast, keeping the door open only during limited and preset times allows you to keep control and prevents others from interrupting your flow” (p. 13).

Schedule everything. Everything. “Live from your calendar, time-block family dinners or homework or reading at bedtime, and ensure that your time matches your values” (p.117)

Don’t be afraid to treat people differently. Reward the high achievers; don’t spend too much time on the troublemakers; help people find and use their unique talents. That’s fair. “In a misguided attempt to be objective and fair, too many managers treat all their team members the same. That’s an extremely unfair way to treat your best performers” (p. 135).

Love people, be transparent, and forget about being liked. Measure yourself against how well you adhere to your values, not the opinions of others. “Some of what I value: transparency, treating people fairly, making decisions objectively, caring for my team members. Those are the standards that I’ll measure myself against, not whether or not the people at work like me” (p.75)

You’re leading. All the time. Even when you don’t realize it. Will you be a positive or a negative influence? “Leadership, with its endless definitions, is most often boiled down to one word: influence” (p. 183).

An Unexpected Win: Work-Life Balance

Although there’s something here for everyone, there’s a particularly big benefit for leaders who are also parents. I didn’t anticipate the valuable insights on work-life balance and how to be a more effective parent. Definitely an unexpected win!

One of the most compelling personal Holocaust survival stories ever written

December 29, 2020 / R. R. / 0 Comments

Night

Elie Wiesel (Bantam Books)

Today, January 27, is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this day in 1945, the Russian army liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

This week, I read again Eli Wiesel’s compelling personal account of surviving the Holocaust. It’s a truly moving story and one that will break your heart. Wiesel catalogs his experiences as a Jew in Sighet, a small rural community in Transylvania, watching the horrors of anti-Semitism unfold. His story follows his life as a 15 year old, assigned first to the ghettos, then transported to Auschwitz, then to Buna, and finally to Buchenwald where he was liberated by the American forces. Wiesel survived: his mother, father and little sister did not.

As I read the book this time, what stood out to me the most was the incomprehensible nature of the depravity that emerged. Five examples stand out:

The first is the rejection of Moshe the Beadle. In the initial wave, all foreign Jews were expelled from Sighet. Moshe the Beadle was one of them. Miraculously, he escaped and ultimately returned to the village to warn the Jews about what was really going on. The deportees hadn’t been relocated: they’d been taken to a forest and executed. We learn that “Without passion, without haste, they slaughtered their prisoner. Each one had to go up to the hole and present his neck. Babies were thrown into the air and the machine gunners used them as targets” (p.4).

But no one believes Moshe the Beadle. He is dismissed as a crazy old man who has lost his mind. The horrors he recounts are simply incomprehensible.

The second is the silence of the majority. Yet it was not only the silence it was the cold, calculating thinking that seemed to underlie the indifference. Wiesel describes being marched out in the deportation: “The town seemed deserted. Yet our friends of yesterday were probably waiting behind their shutters for the moment when they could pillage our houses” (p.19).

The third is the moment when Wiesel and his father are being marched to the barracks and see flames coming from a ditch. “They were burning something. A lorry drew up at the pit and delivered its load — little children. Babies!” (p.30).

The fourth is the execution of a young boy by hanging. This time the inhumanity was such that Wiesel tells us that even “the Lagerkap refused to act as executioner. Three SS replaced him” (p. 61). The boy was too light to die quickly. “For more than half an hour he stayed there, struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes. And we had to look him full in the face. He was still alive when I passed in front of him. His tongue was still red, his eyes were not yet glazed” (p.62).

The last is the sad sight of the German workmen who who seemed to enjoy watching the trainload of emaciated Jews fighting for pieces of bread: “a workman took a piece of bread out of his bag and threw it into a wagon. There was a stampede. Dozens of starving me fought each other to the death for a few crumbs. The German workmen took a lively interest in this spectacle” (p.95).

In a time when Holocaust denial seems to be on the rise, we must never forget. Read this book. Tell a friend. Teach your children.

Lost in the Andes: A worst nightmare survival story

December 29, 2020 / R. R. / 0 Comments

Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors

Piers Paul Read (Open Road)

This is ultimately a story about the indomitable human spirit and the will to survive. It’s a story of courage and heroism, faith and hope, resilience and rugged determination. It’s a compelling read and it will give you chills. If it were not a true story, the reader could be forgiven for saying the story was far-fetched. But it’s real. It happened and 16 survivors battled through tragic circumstances for ten weeks to tell the tale.

The story involves 45 individuals — a rugby team, their families, friends and the air crew — who leave Montivideo, Uruguay, to fly to Santiago, Chile, for a rugby game that would never be played. The plane crash lands in a remote part of the Andes and the battle for survival begins. The survivors must battle bitter cold, starvation, altitude, terrible injuries, the hostile terrain and utter loneliness. When they learn that the search for them has been abandoned, they commit to finding a way back, despite the incredible odds stacked against them.

But this is also a story about families who never gave up hope. Despite the official pronouncements that their loved ones were almost certainly dead and that it was a waste of resources to continue searching, they fought on in a vain hope. Searching. Waiting. Daring to hope when everything looked hopeless.

The most compelling part of the story comes when the survivors confront the bitter reality that, abandoned in the barren and snow covered terrain, they will starve. Unless they resort to the only food source available to them — the frozen bodies of their fallen companions. The revulsion of this necessity will impact the reader but not nearly as strongly as it impacted the survivors.

In a compelling moment, one of them leads the way:

“Most of the bodies were covered by snow, but the buttocks of one protruded a few yards from the plane. With no exchange of words Canessa knelt, bared the skin, and cut into the flesh with a piece of broken glass. …

He prayed to God to help him do what he knew to be right and then took a piece of meat in his hand. He hesitated. Even with his mind so firmly made up, the horror of the act paralyzed him. His hand would neither rise to his mouth nor fall to his side while the revulsion which possessed him struggled with his stubborn will. The will prevailed. The hand rose and pushed the meat into his mouth. He swallowed it.”

Concluding thoughts

The tale of the survivors’ ordeal is gripping. But with the agony of the tale comes the ecstasy of the rescue. The reader’s emotions are torn as parents meet surviving children, while other parents have their hopes dashed yet again.

Equally compelling is the change in the survivors and their new understanding of the things that matter in life. Perhaps one of the most poignant comments comes late in the book where the author reports:

“They all agreed, however, that their ordeal on the mountain had changed their attitude towards life. Suffering and privation had taught them how frivolous their lives had been. Money had become meaningless. No one up there would have sold one cigarette for the five thousand dollars they had amassed in the suitcase. Each day that passed had peeled off layer upon layer of superficiality until they were left with only what they truly cared for: their families, their novias, their faith in God and their homeland.”

Would that all of us could attain such an understanding of life, without having to face such an ordeal.

MI6, the KGB & the CIA: Treachery, betrayal and sacrifice

December 27, 2020 / R. R. / 0 Comments

“The Spy and the Traitor”

Ben Macintyre (Broadway Books)

This is an incredible true spy story. I knew this book was going to be awesome when I saw that John LeCarre described it as “The best true spy story have ever read” but it surpassed my expectations.

The spy is KGB Colonel Oleg Gordievsky who becomes an MI6 double agent and today lives in hiding in the UK. Gordievsky became disillusioned with the lie that was the Soviet Union and set out to bring an end to the communist system.

The traitor is Aldrich Ames, the CIA double agent who spied for the KGB and is believed to be the mole who ultimately betrayed Gordievsky. Ames is serving a life sentence in a US prison.

The book is well researched and contains multiple quotes from key KGB, CIA, MI6 and MI5 participants. The narrative is compelling and the story is so incredible that it would be unbelievable except for the fact that it’s true. The author makes clear that there is no moral equivalence between these two double agents: Ames betrayed his country for money; Gordievsky sought to save his country from the clutches of the communist regime.

[Spoiler alerts] The book traces Gordievsky’s life from loyal KGB agent, to MI6 informant, his posting to Scandinavia and London, his recall to Moscow after he became the subject of suspicion, his torture and interrogation, and ultimately his incredulous escape from the Soviet Union.

One of the most compelling personal elements of the story is Gordievsky’s love for his wife (the daughter of a KGB general) and his daughters who knew nothing of his betrayal of the Soviet Union. He struggles desperately in deciding whether to escape alone or risk taking the entire family in an escape attempt that seems destined to fail. Ultimately, he escapes alone, leaving his wife to endure relentless KGB interrogation. Efforts by the UK to extract Gordievsky’s family from the USSR were unsuccessful. Finally, in the dying months of the Soviet Union, six years after their separation, the family was reunited. Tragically, the precious love they shared had died and the author states that Gordievsky’s wife believed that his “loyalty to an idea had taken precedence over his love for her” (Epilogue).

&amp;lt;br />

Compelling Quotes:

“The decision to leave his family behind was either an act of monumental self-sacrifice, or one of selfish self-preservation, or both. He told himself he had no choice, which is what we all tell ourselves when forced to make a terrible choice” (p.249).

The Telegram from MI6 to the extraction team: “The Prime Minister has personally approved this operation and expressed her confidence in your ability to carry it out. We all here join in standing 100% behind you and are confident you will succeed” (p. 270).

“Gordievsky risked his life for a cause; Ames wanted a bigger car” (Epilogue).

“He is one of the bravest people I have ever met, and one of the loneliest” (Epilogue).

Summation:

In the Afterword, the author states:

“Oleg Gordievsky did not read the book before publication; he then read it twice, and sent his assessment in a single line, written in a wobbly hand: “It is flawless.” This book is certainly not flawless, but if it has helped to bring to the world’s attention a remarkable, brave, and complex man and an important episode in recent hisotry, then it will have served its purpose” (Afterword).

I would assure the author that he most definitely got my attention. I had never heard of Oleg Gordievsky and now I wonder why. The book had a remarkable impact. I’m glad I had the chance to read it and I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone with an interest in history and especially the Cold War era.

Categories