If you need proof that the original Cold War is over, this book's detailed description of both espionage tradecraft and intelligence collected should If you need proof that the original Cold War is over, this book's detailed description of both espionage tradecraft and intelligence collected should assure you that Cold War secrets are no longer closely protected.
This is a very readable but also very well-structured history of human intelligence conducted from the CIA's Moscow Station during the Cold War. It is focused on the period 1978-1984, and particularly on the work of Adolf Tolkachev, a senior avionics engineer who hated the Soviet system and chose to destroy it by giving information to the CIA.
But to give context to the story, Hoffman provides a shorter overview of early Cold War CIA human source operations, and the evolution of the Moscow Station leading up to his time of interest. He then covers the operations of interest in a fascinating, readable way. I'm particularly impressed with how he mixes the intelligence problems -- the requirements for information and the positive intelligence results of spying -- with the national security issues of the time, the difficulties of human source intelligence, and the impact that intelligence has. I liked how he made clear that the information is critical for national security decision makers ("How good are the Soviets if we have to fight them? What are they spending money on, and what are they getting for it?) as well as for the US scientists and engineers developing our military systems and deciding what to do next. Finally, he puts the results of the Tolkachev operation into context by showing how it made a difference in air superiority when the US went up against Soviet-era jets in the Balkans and the Middle East.
The book is very readable, and feels more like a thriller than a history story (despite being based on real events). However, it is in many ways an argument for the indispensability of human source intelligence even in a world of technical marvels ... and for how it can be conducted even in the face of almost insurmountable odds. He makes that case well....more
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