Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations

Everybody spied on everybody else during the Cold War. France had agents in the U.S., China had agents in East Germany, Poland had agents in Great Britain, and the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. had agents everywhere--in governments, in industry, in the military, and within each other's, and their own, intelligence agencies. A-Z entries provide a fascinating glimpse into the subterranean world, events, people and operations of the Cold War.

Cold War espionage was a nightmare of errors, seen darkly in a wilderness of mirrors, raining desperate deceptions in a climate of treason, with assassins trading in treachery using hidden hands running invisible governments. As fascinating as it was lethal, this labyrinthian world is still masked in mystery. A good amount is known and knowable, however, and this encyclopedia offers up the latest and most up to date information available, drawn from scholarship, memoirs, and journalism. Everybody spied on everybody else during the Cold War. France had agents in the U.S., China had agents in East Germany, Poland had agents in Great Britain, and the United States and the U.S.S.R. had agents everywhere: in governments, in industry, in the military, and within each other's, and their own, intelligence agencies. A-Z entries provide a fascinating glimpse into the subterranean world, events, people and operations of the Cold War.

Close to 300 hundred entries provide vivid summaries of hazardous careers, both long and tragically brief, of betrayal and double-cross, and of diplomatic maneuvering so freighted with deception and cunning it sometimes seems unreal. Every entry concludes with suggested readings, and is thoroughly cross-referenced. A thematic guide quickly directs users to Affairs, Crises, Disasters, Hoaxes and Scandals; Agents of Influence, Spies, Spymasters, and Informants by nationality; Assassins and Assassinations; Covert Operations; Defectors to the East and West; Double Agents, Fictional Agents and Operations; Honeytraps; Spy Exchanges; Victims of Covert Operations; and Women Spies and Agents. It contains an extensive annotated chronology, and is thoroughly indexed. This encyclopedia will be immensely helpful to students and researchers of the seamier side of 20th century world history, Cold War history, and world politics.

Author: Richard Trahair
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 08/01/2004
Pages: 472
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.30lbs
Size: 10.28h x 7.22w x 1.18d
ISBN: 9780313319556

Review Citation(s):
American Reference Bks Annual 01/01/2005 pg. 324
Booklist 11/15/2004 pg. 613
Choice 04/01/2005 pg. 1382

About the Author

RICHARD C.S. TRAHAIR is Social Research Advisor and Consulting Psychologist at La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia. He is the author of From Aristotelian to Reaganomics: A Dictionary of Eponyms with Biographies in the Social Sciences (Greenwood, 1994) and Utopia and Utopians: An Historical Dictionary (Greenwood, 1999).