Oleg Gordievsky
Power Lines
Near and Distant Neighbours: A New History of Soviet Intelligence
By Jonathan Haslam
Oxford University Press 366pp £20
I should advise readers at the outset that this important monograph gets off to a bad start. A list of Russian intelligence jargon contains at least half a dozen disconcerting mistakes of one sort or another. The text was obviously completed in too much of a hurry, with little regard for consistency. An additional problem is that Jonathan Haslam seems to treat all the sources he uses as equally reliable, including books written by ‘former’ KGB operatives, sometimes with Western coauthors who lack the essential language skills. This is particularly relevant because, despite the blurb, Haslam has disappointingly little to say about the massive Soviet and post-1991 disinformation operations that are currently becoming almost as aggressive and dangerous as they were during the Cold War.
That said, Near and Distant Neighbours is worth reading for two reasons. Haslam rightly mentions that previous books on the subject have failed to cover in sufficient detail the activities of the Soviet military espionage agencies, notably what he calls ‘the Fourth’ and the GRU, and link them up with
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
When @djbduncan notices the text for a literary jigsaw puzzle had been written by a former colleague, his head spins. A wild surmise. Are jigsaws REF-able?
Dennis Duncan - The W Factor
Dennis Duncan: The W Factor
literaryreview.co.uk
In an effort to scold drinkers, Victorian temperance societies furiously marked every drinking establishment with a red X on city maps. It was a spectacular case of propaganda backfiring.
@foxtosser explores the history of drink maps
Edward Brooke-Hitching - From Beer Street to Gin Lane
Edward Brooke-Hitching: From Beer Street to Gin Lane - Drink Maps in Victorian Britain by Kris Butler
literaryreview.co.uk
How did a workers’ insurance agent who died of tuberculosis at the age of forty become a global literary icon?
@MortenHoiJensen on Kafka's metamorphosis
Morten Høi Jensen - Paranoid Humanoid
Morten Høi Jensen: Paranoid Humanoid - Metamorphoses: In Search of Franz Kafka by Karolina Watroba; Kafka: Making o...
literaryreview.co.uk