Historical Dictionary of Cold War Counterintelligence (Historical Dictionaries of Intelligence and Counterintelligence) - Hardcover

West, Nigel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810857707 ISBN 13: 9780810857704

Publisher: Scarecrow Press, 2007

Synopsis

The defection of Igor Gouzenko in September 1945, more so than any other single event, alerted the West to the nature and scale of the Soviet espionage offensive being waged by the Kremlin. Apart from the dozen or so defendants convicted of spying, Gouzenko wrecked an organization that had taken years to develop, exposed the penetration of the Manhattan atomic weapons project, and demonstrated the very close relationship between the Canadian Communist Party and Moscow. Many credit this event as sparking the bitter but secretive struggle fought between the intelligence agencies of the East and West for nearly half a century.

The Historical Dictionary of Cold War Counterintelligence tells the story of both sides' fierce efforts to penetrate and subvert the opponent while desperately trying to avoid a similar fate. Through a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on the organizations, operations, events, and personalities that influenced counterintelligence during the Cold War, the world of double agents, spies, and moles is explained in the most comprehensive reference currently available.

About this title

About the Author

Nigel West was voted 'the experts' expert' bya panel of spy-writers assembled by the Observer in 1986; and was the recipient of the U.S Association of Former Intelligence Officers first Lifetime Literature Achievement Award.

Reviews

Counterintelligence refers to organizations or efforts designed to prevent enemy organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence. Examples include careful classification and control of sensitive information, active spreading of disinformation to mislead the enemy, and direct targeting of enemy intelligence collection methods and resources. This volume brings together in dictionary format information on counterintelligence agencies, operations, terminology, and more. It is another in the publisher's well-crafted Historical Dictionaries of Intelligence and Counterintelligence series. The A Z entries are concise yet sufficiently informative. Readers will find information on agency directors, agents, moles, defectors, and code names for operations and people. Most entries are one-third of a page (Hanssen, Robert), but longer entries can be over a page or two (John Paul II). Much of the focus is on American and former Soviet Russia and German operations, and the work certainly does open the door to the myriad of nefarious activities going on in the world during the period defined as the cold war, 1945 1991. The appendixes provide various lists, among them "Espionage Prosecutions in the U.S.," "CIA Assets Compromised by Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen," and "Soviet Intelligence Defectors." The volume concludes with a classified bibliography and an index. This is an excellent introductory resource for those interested in the cold war and in security and intelligence issues. It would be useful in college as well as in public libraries, especially if it joins other titles in the series. Tomchyshyn, Terri

Edition details

• Publisher: Scarecrow Press
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0810857707
• ISBN 13: 9780810857704
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 464