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The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal
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About The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story Of Cold War
Product Description A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year It was the height of the Cold War, and a dangerous time to be stationed in the Soviet Union. One evening, while the chief of the CIA’s Moscow station was filling his gas tank, a stranger approached and dropped a note into the car. The chief, suspicious of a KGB trap, ignored the overture. But the man had made up his mind. His attempts to establish contact with the CIA would be rebuffed four times before he thrust upon them an envelope whose contents would stun U.S. intelligence. In the years that followed, that man, Adolf Tolkachev, became one of the most valuable spies ever for the U.S. But these activities posed an enormous personal threat to Tolkachev and his American handlers. They had clandestine meetings in parks and on street corners, and used spy cameras, props, and private codes, eluding the ever-present KGB in its own backyard—until a shocking betrayal put them all at risk. Drawing on previously classified CIA documents and on interviews with firsthand participants, The Billion Dollar Spy is a brilliant feat of reporting and a riveting true story of intrigue in the final years of the Cold War. Review Praise for David E. Hoffman’s The Billion Dollar Spy “ The Billion Dollar Spy is one of the best spy stories to come out of the Cold War and all the more riveting . . . for being true. It hits the sweet spot between page-turning thriller and solidly researched history (even the footnotes are informative) and then becomes something more, a shrewd character study of spies and the spies who run them, the mixed motives, the risks. . . . This is a terrific book.” — Washington Post “A true-life tale so gripping at times it reads like spy fiction.” — Los Angeles Times “Engrossing. . . . Mr. Hoffman’s book particularly shines in cinematic accounts of . . . anxious encounters.” — The New York Times “A rare look at the dangerous, intricately choreographed tradecraft behind old-school intelligence gathering. . . . What [Hoffman]’s accomplished here isn’t just a remarkable example of journalistic talent but also an ability to weave an absolutely gripping nonfiction narrative.” — The Dallas Morning News “This riveting drama. . . . packs valuable insights into the final decade of the cloak-and-dagger rivalry between the United States and the former Soviet Union. . . . A must-read for historians and buffs of that era, as well as aficionados of espionage.” — The Christian Science Monitor“Hoffman excels at conveying both the tradecraft and the human vulnerabilities involved in spying.” — The New Yorker“Gripping and nerve-wracking. . . . Human tension hangs over every page of The Billion Dollar Spy like the smell of leaded gasoline. . . . [Hoffman] knows the intelligence world well and has expertly used recently declassified documents to tell this unsettling and suspenseful story. . . . The Billion Dollar Spy reads like the most taut and suspenseful parts of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or Smiley’s People. It’s worth the clenched jaw and upset stomach it creates.” — USA Today “Suspenseful. . . . Hoffman is a scrupulous, meticulous writer whose pages of footnotes and references attest to how carefully he sticks to his sources. . . . His book’s value is in its true-life adventure story and the window it offers into a once-closed world.” — The Columbus Dispatch “Hoffman viscerally evokes the secret, ruthless Cold War battle between the American Central Intelligence Agency and the Soviet KGB in his true-life espionage thriller. . . . An exciting, revealing tale with a courageous, sympathetic protagonist.” — Tampa Bay Times “The fine first sentence of The Billion Dollar Spy could almost have been written with an icicle. A work of painstaking historical research that’s paced like a thriller.” — Departures “Hoffman [proves] that nonfiction can read like a John le Carré thriller. . . . This real-life tale of espionage will hook readers from the get
