The illegals : Russia's most audacious spies and their century-long mission to infiltrate the West Cover Image

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The illegals : Russia's most audacious spies and their century-long mission to infiltrate the West / Shaun Walker.

Summary:

"A century ago, the new Bolshevik government began sending Soviet citizens abroad as deep-cover spies, training them to pose as foreign aristocrats, merchants, and students. Over time, this became the most ambitious espionage program in human history. Many intelligence agencies use undercover operatives, but the KGB was the only one to go to such lengths, spending years training its spies to pass for foreigners, then sending them on missions that could last for decades. These spies were known as the illegals. During the Cold War, illegals were dispatched to assassinate world leaders and steal technological secrets -- the greatest among them performed remarkable feats, while many others failed in their missions or cracked under the strain of living a double life. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews with illegals and their descendants, as well as archival research in more than a dozen countries, Shaun Walker brings the illegals to life in a page-turning tour-de-force that takes us into the heart of the KGB's most secretive program. A riveting spy drama peopled with richly drawn characters, The Illegals also uncovers a hidden thread in the story of Russia itself. As Putin extols Soviet achievements and the KGB's espionage prowess, and Moscow continues to infiltrate illegals across the globe, this timely narrative shines new light on the long arc of the Soviet experiment, its messy aftermath, and its influence on our world at large." -- Provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 9780593319680
ISBN: 0593319680
Physical Description: vi, 433 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2025.
Copyright: ©2025

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 367-412) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Part one: The first illegals -- Roots : the Bolshevik underground -- The old man : the first head of Soviet foreign intelligence -- The fast flier : the greatest of the great illegals -- The terror : Stalin's purges -- Part two: War and Cold War -- Inroads to America : the first illegals in the United States -- Operation Duck : the assassination of Leon Trotsky -- Operation Barbarossa : Hitler invades the Soviet Union -- The whistler : undercover behind enemy lines -- Early infiltrations : the Cold War begins -- Signor Ambasciatore : the mission to kill Tito -- The illegals go public : the Abel trial and the CIA's first illegals -- Part three: An illegal life -- Origin : the recruitment and training of an illegal -- Matchmaking: the search for a partner and co-illegal -- Infiltration : entering the West -- Operation Progress : undermining the Prague Spring -- The mobile resident : on assignment in Israel -- Part four: The Cold War battle fronts -- The Baron von Hohenstein : undercover in West Germany -- The main enemy : spying on the Americans -- The inheritor : the attempt to create a second-generation illegal -- Diminishing returns : the KGB keeps going -- Eleven days in Kabul : the birth of the "fighting illegal" -- Part five: Collapse and resurrection -- The threat of war : rising tensions and new illegals -- The end : the collapse of the Soviet Union -- Stierlitz takes over : the rise of Vladimir Putin -- Operation Ghost Stories : the FBI swoops -- The virtual illegals : election meddling and easy deniability -- The lives of wonderful people : the cult of the illegal.