Highly touted as one of the most extensively and deliberately detailed accounts by a Russian KGB defection, this book unfortunately comes out as little more than standard propaganda against a state that no longer exists.

There are no overt overtones and historical perspectives that give more weight to the KGB activities in the west and the counter operations done by the SIS or CIA. It seems that most of the KGB operations happened in a vacuum, with little or no significance to their purported enemies. The western NATO powers are presented as benign organizations, while the Warsaw Pact countries are always portrayed as paranoid about the west and its overtures.

No mention is made of the nuclear race started by the US and its allies, and how it positioned them across Eastern Europe to keep the USSR on the edge. There is also no mention of the CIA coups across the globe and how the US fought multiple wars on all continents. Additionally, there is no mention of how global organizations never matured beyond being the handmaiden of the US.

All that the KGB was ever able to achieve was to position some of the Comintern members into governments sometimes, but for a very short period and not very effectively.

The old adage that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is extended to “the enemy of my enemy is my friend until he becomes my enemy too”. Two vastly different examples are given in the book. One is Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s Nobel Win and how he was persona non grata in the USSR. The US built him up against the enemy as an intellectual foil, but when he gave a lecture at Harvard denouncing western ethos and seeing them as no different than the socialist regime, he became useless to either power. The other example is the Taliban in Afghanistan.

There is a mention of a KGB propaganda piece by Philip Agee called Inside the Company, similar to this book, and that book is unavailable across platforms. It would be a more balanced read if one could reference it at the same time. All in all, the first book is rather underwhelming.

I don't think people truly understand the significance of Soviet penetration into the western democracies, especially in America and Britain, but also including France, Italy, and West Germany, during the early years of the Cold War.

This book doesn't offer anything overly astonishing specifically, yet it does provide a good overall view, albeit being too detailed at times.

Their prime years were indeed the 1940s and 1950s. Later on, their activities devolved into the incompetence of the FBI, such as sending hate letters to those they disliked. One excellent point that Christopher Andrew makes is the devastating impact of political correctness on the Soviet Union. Despite having excellent intelligence, thanks to the "Cambridge 5" and others, they often couldn't utilize it if it contradicted the prevailing orthodoxy. On the other hand, intelligence reports were quite valuable to him during the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, as well as in the wars in Korea and China. Of course, the most useful was the nuclear bomb, as technology is rarely abandoned due to political correctness.

Another worthy theme is the ideological penetration of the West, including the anti-nuclear weapon peace movement and conspiracies regarding the Kennedy assassination. It's interesting to note that Martin Luther King was the victim of operations by both the FBI and the KGB simultaneously.

I understand that this is an unprecedented coup for intelligence research, and I recognize that the author is an academic.

However, I feel like the blurbs rather oversold the book as a spy thriller. I knew going into it that it would be detailed and well-footnoted, but I also hoped that there would be a story or several.

What happens instead is that the juicy stories get buried under piles of dates, names, and places that are just lists of facts.

Mitrokhin's own narrative of how he collected, hid, and then smuggled the records and documents out of the Soviet Union would make an amazing book on its own, and I hope someone is making a movie of that adventure.

Then there are all the Soviet spies who took on completely different identities, romanced assets from other countries, and stole all kinds of secrets.

And just as fascinating are the citizens of the US, Canada, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia, and Britain (especially Britain) who felt passionate about the Soviet cause or about money and went to great lengths to sell intelligence to the KGB.

At times I thought the author was going to go in depth with one of these tales, but then he switched topics to more lists of code names or bureaucratic orders, and the thrill is gone.

Maybe I could recommend here that someone with a good sense of narrative mine this book for some stories that could be told for a non-academic audience.

This way, those of us who don't need every date documented could have something to enjoy and leave this book to the historians who need that kind of information.

A testament to Vasili Mitrokhin and his efforts, yet a very arduous read. This work stands as a remarkable tribute to the dedication and hard work of Vasili Mitrokhin. However, it is not an easy book to get through. The content is complex and requires a great deal of concentration and effort to understand.

After owning this for years, I finally got through it in 2022! It took me a long time to muster up the courage and determination to finish reading this book. But in the end, I am glad that I did. It has provided me with a deeper understanding of the subject matter and has broadened my perspective.

Despite the challenges, I would still recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the topic. It is a valuable resource that offers unique insights and perspectives. Just be prepared for a difficult but rewarding read.

5 stars for the Mitrokhin amazing effort to shed some light on some of the KGB secrets. His work has been truly remarkable, helping us to better understand a dark era.

The KGB was a powerful and mysterious organization, and Mitrokhin's revelations have provided valuable insights into its inner workings.

However, on the downside, I found the constant use of code names a little bit too much. It made it sometimes difficult to keep track of who was who and what was happening.

Despite this minor drawback, Mitrokhin's work is an important contribution to the field of history and intelligence studies.

It has opened up new avenues of research and has given us a better understanding of the complex and often murky world of espionage.

A wild and astonishing history that was frighteningly not that long ago.

There was a time when spies lived in our midst, hidden among the ordinary people. Their presence was a constant threat, as they carried out their secret missions of deception and manipulation. Deception ruled the roost during that era, with lies and false information being used as weapons.

But is it still like this today? Do spies still lurk in the shadows, waiting to strike? I don't think we'll know until another age comes crashing down. The truth may be hidden beneath the surface, and only time will reveal what lies ahead.

This is not fantasy…it is reality. We must be vigilant and aware of the world around us, for you never know who may be watching or listening. The past serves as a reminder of the dangers that can lurk in the unknown, and we must learn from it to protect ourselves in the future.

This thing is extremely dense.

It's not really masterfully written, but the information it presents is truly astonishing.

It refers to the Mitrokhin papers, which are essentially hand-copied archives from the KGB archivist who defected in the early 1990s.

I usually pick it up every few months, spend some time reading a couple of hundred pages, and then put it down.

The process of going through these papers is like embarking on a journey into a hidden world of secrets and espionage.

Despite the density of the content, it never fails to capture my attention and make me realize the magnitude of the events and operations that were taking place behind the scenes during that era.

Each time I pick up the papers, I feel as if I am uncovering a new layer of history, and it is both fascinating and overwhelming.

Even though I may not be able to fully absorb all the details in one sitting, the overall experience of engaging with the Mitrokhin papers is one that I will always cherish.

It serves as a reminder of the power of information and the importance of understanding the past in order to make sense of the present.

First, it is important to let you know that this is not a book that you would bring to the beach for some light reading over the weekend. Instead, it offers a serious and in-depth look at the history and evolution of the lead intelligence arm of the Soviet Union, as well as the early years following the end of the Cold War.

The research and documentation in this book are truly excellent. You will get a sense of just how far the Soviet intelligence agency extended its reach throughout the western world. Moreover, it once again emphasizes the wisdom of having excellent human intelligence (HUMINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT). A satellite can show you where the military divisions are located, but an intercepted communication can provide valuable insights into where they are headed. And a person within the inner circle can reveal what the commander is thinking.

This book is the first in a two-series history of Soviet/Russian intelligence. I will likely check out the next book in the series next year to further explore this fascinating topic.

**The Paranoia of Stalin: A Critical Look at a Historical Work**

A subtitle that should catch the attention of any potential reader is "The Paranoia of Stalin". The unique way in which the information about Stalin's activities is presented makes this book worthy of investigation for those interested in Russian/Soviet history. However, three stars is a higher rating than this work truly deserves in all aspects except for the raw information it provides. And it is indeed raw. In fact, this ranks as one of the most poorly organized and constructed historical works of its kind. The editing is so bad that the editor is probably still in therapy over it.

To the author's minor defense, the opening chapter details the history of the book. The methods Christopher Andrew had to use led to many of the problems. But most historians and researchers deal with disorganized and incomplete chronicles at some point and manage to rewrite a more coherent narrative. This work in some places seems like a translation that has only been cleaned up for colloquial English acceptability. In other places, there is valuable coordination of new and previously known documentation that greatly expands the knowledge in the West about the Soviet era.
The sections on Trotsky and the obsessive madness of his opponents are quite revealing. The violence and body count are shocking even decades and generations later. When reading this work, it is advisable to have a notepad and pen or many ebook marks available to be able to jump around. I have read it three times and still haven't been able to read it straight through. It is not a general introduction to Soviet era intelligence as one needs a solid foundation in the entire Philby affair (the real one, not the fictional version) before reading much of this work. It is only recommended for those who are willing to cross-reference, do side reading, and are not in a rush.

A historical review has been conducted based on the information obtained from a CIA archivist who defected to the British with pallets of stolen intelligence. Since the majority of the data dates back to the early Cold War, it has unearthed numerous historical details. Although the text is lengthy and dry at most points, it can be considered a good "put me to sleep at night book." However, it also contains several eye-opening moments that help one understand the intelligence business in general. It explains away some myths and sheds light on others. Myth spoilers include: 1) The conspiracy evidence regarding the Kennedy assassination was actively fabricated by the KGB to foster distrust in the US government. 2) The claim that J. Edgar Hoover was a transvestite was also a KGB-generated myth aimed at discrediting him. 3) Soviet intelligence drop boxes were built into buildings, and a number of "unsolved" construction explosions are associated with these security boxes.

This historical review provides valuable insights into the world of intelligence during the early Cold War, revealing both the facts and the myths that have surrounded this era.

Interesting return to the Cold War. The use of unverifiable sources and hearsay, along with a populist writing style, can make it a tiresome read. However, it serves as a reminder of the hard line, realist, and Great Power beliefs that were so recently passed but are ready to resurface. It also shows us what a giant (albeit sometimes lethal) boys' game the whole thing was. Biggles and Tintin were role models for some. Additionally, although nominally a history of the KGB based on smuggled archival material, Mitrokhin and Andrews emphasize the continuity of the KGB through the FSB and the continuation of this apparat's influence on Soviet and post-Soviet politics. We must remember that poisoned umbrella tips and polonium, as well as bisexual Oxford undergrads who believed in Soviet Communism and handled the Royal Art collection, may sound like bad Get Smart or James Bond ruses, but they were effective. Cue the Bluetooth smart rocks and the further expulsion of Britain from Putin's Russia.

That this archive was published is an incredibly vanishing impossibility.

An archivist at the KGB was the sole individual who knew what was truly happening during the last 30 years of the Soviet Union. This was because he was the recipient of all information in its uncensored form.

The first page is completely insane and one would think it couldn't get any crazier. However, it does, with every single page.

The only thing that was more powerful than the USSR's espionage capabilities was their inability to act on their near-omniscience. This was because reporting the party (Stalin's) line was mandatory, rather than seeking objective truths.

This led to a situation where the wealth of information they had was often not used in a way that could have potentially changed the course of events.

The archivist's knowledge, while vast, was also constrained by the political climate of the time.

It is a fascinating and complex story that sheds light on the inner workings of the Soviet Union during a crucial period in its history.