Tag: Spy

The Last Le Carré: Make time to read it

July 12, 2023 / R. R. / 0 Comments

Silverview

John Le Carré (Viking)

There will never be another Le Carre

No one can write like Le Carré – I am convinced of this. Sadly, he passed away in 2020. At the time of his death, Silverview was finished but unpublished. Fortunately, his son brought it to publication. If you’re a Le Carré fan, don’t miss it!

Is this book in the league of some of his classics like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Russia House? Honestly, it’s hard to compare anything those books, which are true classics. My answer is “no, it’s not as awesome as those.” But it’s still great, it’s classic Le Carré. In a strange way, the book has an air of finality about it, and I can’t help but wonder if Le Carré somehow knew this would be his last book. If you’re a Le Carré fan, I highly recommend it.

What’s it about?

The book opens with a young woman delivering a letter on behalf of her dying mother, Deborah Avon, whom we ultimately learn is a former high profile spy. What’s in the letter? That’s the key. She’s delivering the letter to Stewart Proctor of MI6, who becomes an integral player in the story.

Living in the same town as the dying spy, is the young Julian Lawnsley who has left a high-flying finance career in London in order to open a bookstore. He is befriended by a well-educated gentleman who becomes his confidant in building and growing the bookstore. That man, Edward, is non other than the husband of Deborah, the dying spy.

What we learn later is that Edward himself also had a distinguished spy past that began before he married Deborah. And we come to discover that this career was resurrected by MI6 when the former Yugoslavia descended into war, and Edward’s past skills became extremely valuable. We learn all this as Stewart Proctor talks extensively with two retired spies.

Disillusionment

Le Carré slowing pulls back the curtain for us to see that Edward, committed to peace in Bosnia, becomes progressively disillusioned with the work being done in Bosnia, which is comes to see as failing to protect innocent Bosnian lives. The final straw is the execution by the Serbs of two members of a family to which he has become particularly attached. They were not Bosnians, but they were executed because they had provided medical support to Bosnian Muslims. Only the wife, Salma, survived.

Providing a frame to this disillusionment, one of the retired spies sharing the story with Procter says “we didn’t do too much to alter the course of human history, did we?”

The spoiler stuff

So it turns out that Edward crossed sides after what he saw in Bosnia. He’s been spying on his wife, Deborah, ever since. Of course, he’s spying on Britain, and passing the information to Salma, with whom he’s in love. Why? Because Edward believes he’s chasing true world peace and he’s come to believe that the British and their American allies really aren’t legitimately committed to the same peace to which he’s committed.

Love spy fiction? Read this

July 7, 2023 / R. R. / 0 Comments

Eye of the Needle

Ken Follett (Harper)

What’s it about?

The book is fictional but it’s a spy novel set in WWII and is based on the Allied effort that was dubbed “Operation Fortitude.” The operation was designed to mislead the Nazis into believing that the Allied forces would invade France from the Pas de Calais, rather than Normandy.

Until I read this book, I was unaware of this operation but it was really quite creative and the efforts the Allies went to in order to create the deception was amazingly extensive.

The book follows the efforts to capture Die Nadel (“The Needle”), who has discovered and photographed the Allied deception, which involved decoy tanks and barracks that simulated a major troop buildup. From the air, and through false wireless transmissions, the Nazis could be deceived. On the ground, it would need an individual to penetrate the restricted areas and verify that the troop buildup was a deception. Die Nadel is that individual and the Allied victory depends on stopping him from sharing what he knows with his Nazi masters.

Why is it worth reading?

The book is high-energy and gripping. It’s got that page-turning quality that draws you in and keeps you reading. The characters are well developed and intriguing, but it’s the action that keeps the reader coming back for more.

The conclusion

[Spoiler alerts]

Die Nadel is a professional but he is an evil individual. The book pulls at the reader’s emotions, especially as Die Nadal deceives a beautiful young woman trapped in a loveless marriage, who becomes an unwitting supporter. But in a moment of horror, she discovers the truth and becomes instrumental in Die Nadel’s downfall, and his failure to deliver the vital information to his Nazi masters.

Reflections

This was my first Ken Follett book. I definitely enjoyed this book so I’ll be looking for more of Follett’s books going forward!

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.

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).

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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.

The Last Le Carré: Make time to read it

Love spy fiction? Read this

The Shocking Secrets of Sonya the Soviet Spy

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

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