To Russia, With Love: Why Soviet Spy Alger Hiss Chose Treason

Harvey Klehr, the co-author of such respected books on espionage as Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America and Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America, reviewed a new book on the Soviet spy Alger Hiss for the Wall Street Journal.

Klehr reviewed Christina Shelton's Alger Hiss: Why He Choose Treason.

With so much having been written about the espionage case involving Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers, is there a need for yet another book on this riveting and contentious Cold War battle?

Christina Shelton, a retired analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency, thinks there is. She worries that many Americans don't have sufficient knowledge of the case and that others fail to grasp its significance. Written in the style of an intelligence analyst's brief, "Alger Hiss: Why He Chose Treason" is aimed at readers with a vague notion of the episode and puzzlement about why it became such a big event in American history.    

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304299304577350292848854640.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

You can also read my review of Klehr's Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America, which appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, via the below link:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/SpiesKGBAmerica.jpg

As I note in my review, Klehr and his co-authors devote an entire chapter on Hiss. Was he a Soviet spy? Yes, case closed.

My Philadelphia Inquirer Review Of 'Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America'

 The Philadelphia Inquirer published my review of Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America today.

Ian Fleming, a British naval intelligence officer during World War II and the author of the James Bond thrillers, once noted that on occasion a news story would "lift a corner of the veil" and reveal the real world of espionage.

"Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America" lifts much more than a corner of the veil. The book is based on the notebooks of Alexander Vassiliev, a Russian journalist and former KGB officer who was given unprecedented access to KGB files for three years.
   

You can read the rest of the review below:

Note: You can click on the above to enlarge.