The Greatest Secret Of The Cold War
The astonishing story of 'Venona' remains one the last untold chapters in the history of the Cold War. Based on the only complete set of decrypts held in Britain outside Whitehall and supplemented by interviews with most of the key players in the drama, 'Venona' reveals the extraordinary cryptographic effort conducted in conditions of unprecedented secrecy over three decades which gave Western counter-intelligence experts a fascinating glimpse into how Soviet Russia recruited and ran hundreds of moles across the globe. 'Venona' provided the FBI and CIA with compelling evidence against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Alger Hiss, Klaus Fuchs, Donald Maclean and many others, but - to protect the source 'Venona' could never be mentioned in any trial.
Nigel West here identifies for the first time the real names of several important Soviet British spies - including the famous scientist JBS Haldane and the Hon Ivor Montagu, and discloses that there are nearly 300 as yet unidentified former Soviet agents in America and Britain. Once again Nigel West proves himself a masterly guide to the intricate world of espionage and a supremely well-informed authority on the spies themselves.
