About the Author

Alexander Feklisov, now retired, was a highly successful KGB officer in charge of foreign espionage, specializing in English-speaking countries. He lives in Russia.

Reviews

"'Revelatory and sensational!' -New York Times; 'Feklisov's memoir adds signicant new details to the seemingly interminable argument about the espionage activities of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg' -New Republic"

Eventually it all comes out. The publication of Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev's The Haunted Wood (LJ 11/15/98) and John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr's Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America (LJ 4/15/99) signaled the advent of a new age of information on Soviet spying during the Cold War. Now Feklisov, one of the Soviet Union's top KGB agents, tells his own story. Feklisov was Julius Rosenberg's main case manager during the late 1940s, and he proudly explains how Rosenberg delivered valuable secret material to the Soviets beginning in 1944. Despite what their defenders may still believe, Feklisov's account puts another nail in Rosenberg's spy coffin. Feklisov also served as the back channel to Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 and was the one who communicated with ABC news reporter John Scali. Feklisov names names and knows the Cold War Soviet spy system intimately. This is fascinating stuff from someone who was present at the creation of Stalin's espionage network in the United States and chilling reading for anyone who still cannot believe the extent of Soviet spying in the United States during the Cold War. Recommended for most collections. Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Adult/High School-It is always fascinating to get a new, first-person account of a well-known slice of history. Feklisov provides that and much more in this gripping story of his long and distinguished career as a Russian spy. He was the case officer handling the Julius Rosenberg spy ring operating in New York from 1943 to 1946, and the case officer for Klaus Fuchs in London after the war. Nuclear scientist Fuchs was the most important source of secrets concerning atomic and hydrogen bombs, and as such a major player in the delicate global balancing act known as the Cold War. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Feklisov was instrumental as a go-between for Kennedy and Khrushchev. The details of his role, and his perspective on how close the world was to unimaginable disaster, are, in a word, chilling. Teens will be familiar with some of this history, but it is unlikely that they will have heard much, if anything, from the viewpoint of a Russian. Feklisov considers the Rosenbergs and Fuchs heroes of the highest order. His reasons for this provide a history lesson that none of us, of any generation, dares to ignore. The original French title, Confession d'un agent sovietique, is more indicative of the content, and here and there the rewrite or translation is a bit clunky, but otherwise Feklisov's memoir is a compelling read.-Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.