The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America- -The Stalin Era

Delivery was fast and book was in very good shape.

Fabulous book, it helps to reveal the truth of and the injustice of the Ethel and Julius Rosenberg spy trial that sent them both to the electric chair. It proves beyond any doubt that the testimony of David and Ruth Greenglass was false. I have read practically every book that has ever been written about this trial and this, 'communist witch-hunting-hysteria', that took place in America at that time. And, this book now provides, the last piece of the puzzle. From, actual 'Soviet' records.

very good book about espionage in the cold war.

This book covers the ground around the postwar Russian spies very well. My information consists of reading other books on the subject. Some is corroborated in VENONA, but it is interesting to read the NKVD reports about their spies performances as seen by their spy-masters. As can be expected, what goes on on the ground is not always understood by head office. It is scary to read that so many people who did such criminal activities, escaped execution. Sadly, only the Rosenbergs got their true deserts. This does not read like a spy novel, rather a chronology of reports. It is very sad that the old records held by the russians are now closed, perhaps for ever, as they could reveal evidence enough to convict more criminals , the death sentence being current in America, it would be worthwhile to deal with traitors still alive. A worthwhile read, since it has impeccable attribution.

My original review:For reasons still unclear, President Franklin Roosevelt had a mental block about Communism. He just couldn't believe that the Soviet Union would spy on his administration. In the late thirties, his political enemies insisted on pointing out reasons to believe that the Soviets had in fact penetrated the govt. Thus began a long running political controversy.By the seventies, this should have been settled. Weinstein's previous book, PERJURY, and Robert Lamphere's THE FBI/KGB WAR: A SPECIAL AGENT'S STORY had established beyond reasonable doubt that large numbers of USAmericans had been Soviet spies, particularly those exposed by ex-spies such as Whittaker Chambers and Elizabeth Bentley.If you are new to the story, THE HAUNTED WOOD is probably the best introduction to the tale of Soviet espionage in the Stalin era. If you're one of the ones with unreasonable doubts, it will crush your last pretenses, because the KGB let Weinstein and Vassiliev look at some of their files, confirming the identities of numerous agents. But if you're one of those who has previously looked into this subject, there won't be much new. Worth reading, but no bombshells.Afterword, 2002:I've come to appreciate this volume more with time. There is valuable information here that I didn't notice on my first reading. And, as I said before, it is the best introduction to the subject of espionage against the United States by the former Soviet Union (and I still LOVE typing 'former Soviet Union.' ...)