An intensively researched book on Michael Goleniewski, aka Agent Sniper, a Polish intelligence agent who defected to the US. The book’s early chapters discusses how the intelligence provided by Goleniewski helped identify Soviet spies working in a variety of countries, such as Sweden, the UK, the US, and Israel. The middle part of the book talks about the CIA, the agency that exfiltrated Goleniewski, got cold feet because of a second defector, Antoliy Golitsyn, who worked under the CIA counter-intelligence head James Angleton. The last part of the book describes the downward spiral of Goleniewski’s life through mental illness brought about by his paranoia and being discarded by the CIA.

The book has several strengths.
• As noted above, the reader benefits from the author’s tremendous research about the individual and how his revelations revealed spies in several agencies.
• The reader learns of the politics inside the CIA and MI5, and how that paralyzed the agencies for many years.
• It highlights Goleniewski’s increasingly bizarre machinations as he was pushed out into the cold.
• It highlights an agency’s promises are words, not deeds.
• Finally, given both the CIA and MI5 have more documents that are still not public some 60 years after Goleniewski’s defection (where the Polish authorities have released all of theirs), one has to wonder what is so damaging in those files.

Perhaps, considering the book, Goleniewski’s contributions will be looked at in a new light.

However, after reading the book, I wanted to know more about James Angleton, head of counterintelligence, who, as the book’s American subtitle states, despised Goleniewski, as well as Anatoliy Golitsyn, an Angleton whisperer. While that information is available online (see links below), covering this in the book would allow the author to wrap up the story in a more satisfying manner for this reader.

Also, while the book stays focused on Goleniewski and his actions, there are times I would have appreciated a slightly broader perspective of what else was happening in the world that may have played into CIA’s concerns. On the other hand, the book’s focus keeps the length shorter.

Finally, more as a matter taste, some readers might think the extensive use of quotes in text is excessive. Others will appreciate the fullness of those quotes.

Disclaimer: I was given access to a pre-publication version (in the US) by the publisher, with the hope for a review (above).



For additional information, see the following links

Tim Tate, author.
https://timtate.co.uk/.

James Jesus Angleton, head of counterintelligence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jesus_Angleton

Anatoliy Golitsyn, defector
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoliy_Golitsyn

Michael Goleniewski, Agent Sniper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Goleniewski

An truly fascinating book regarding one of the biggest spy stories of the Cold War. It was disheartening to see how shamefully he was treated by the government after his defection to the United States. The story is gripping and keeps you at the edge of your seat. I could not put this book down. A must read for the fans of history and spy stories.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

espionage, British-intelligence, Russian-intelligence, CIA, cold-war, 20th-century, nonfiction, betrayal*****

Well written and very interesting portrait of a brilliant espionage agent who believed his own press and the western spy organizations he both provided incredible intel and embarrassed them with his abilities.
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. Thank you.

Took a while to get into, this book is full of interesting characters from the Spy world. Names like George Blake, Kim Philby and James Jesus Angleton. I found it to be informative but sometimes filled with too much minutiae. Overall, if you enjoy reading about real spies, this book is better than average. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

This book was very interesting and exciting. Kept my interest from start to finish. Would definitely recommend this to anyone.