RUSSIA

Defector Literature

K

Kaznacheev, Aleksandr I. Inside a Soviet Embassy: Experiences of a Russian Diplomat in Burma. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1962. London: Robert Hale, 1963.

Pforzheimer notes that the author took asylum in the United States in 1959, and calls this book "a rare look into the operation of intelligence in a Soviet Embassy." For Constantinides, the book is "valuable" and "interesting" for its "first-hand account of Soviet disinformation and covert psychological warfare operations.... This book should be on any list of works on Soviet deception." Caslon, Studies 7.3 (Summer 1963), finds that this work "provides a fairly accurate and realistic assessment of the then current Soviet situation in Rangoon, by an unusually gifted observer." It is "a fascinating and informative report."

Kern, Gary.

1. A Death in Washington: Walter G. Krivitsky and the Stalin Terror. New York: Enigma, 2003.

Goulden, Washington Times, 10 Aug. 2003, and Intelligencer 14.1, says that this work "offers a multi-faceted examination of a case that intrigued intelligence officers and buffs for more than half a century.... Kern's book is of enormous value in seeking the answer" to the question of whether Krivitsky's death was a suicide or the work of Stalin's hitmen.

To Peake, Studies 49.4/103/fn.13 (2005), "[t]his is the most complete and well-written case study on a Soviet defector ever to be published in English. If reading only one counterintelligence case study, this is the one to chose." For Hyde, IJI&C 17.2, it is clear that the author "dug deep and discovered much that was unknown about Krivitsky's eighteen years of spying, sabotage, and subversion."

Batvinis, I&NS 19.2, comments that the author "is a solid writer and a skilled professional historian" who "has pierced together an intriguing story that introduces us to an array of fascinating characters." However, at times, he lapses into "breezy language and questionable word usage." He also indulges in "unnecessary fiction-like speculation surrounding the circumstances of Krivitsky's death."

2. ed. Walter G. Krivitsky: MI5 Debriefing & Other Documents on Soviet Intelligence. Riverside, CA: Xenos, 2004.

According to Peake, Studies 49.4 (2005), the British debriefed Krivitsky in 1940. This book reproduces the report of that "debriefing, done by MI5 officer[] Jane Archer." It also provides Krivitsky's "congressional testimony and some material related to Krivitsky's stay in France after his initial defection." (footnote omitted)

Kern, Gary. The Kravchenko Case: One Man's War on Stalin. New York: Enigma Press, 2007.

According to Peake, Studies 52.2 (Jun. 2008) and Intelligencer 16.1 (Spring 2008), the author "adds depth and detail to each period and principal event of Kravchenko's life." Kravchenko defected from the Soviet Union in 1944, published two books (one a worldwide best seller), and died in 1965 in circumstances officially classified as suicide.

Kessler, Ronald. Escape from the CIA: How the CIA Won and Lost the Most Important KGB Spy Ever to Defect to the U.S. New York: Pocket Books, 1991.

Clark comment: Escape from the CIA concerns the defection and redefection in 1985 of KGB First Chief Directorate officer Vitaly Yurchenko. The title clearly exaggerates Yurchenko's relative importance.

Fein, FILS 11.6, says that Kessler's "indictment of the CIA ... seems vastly exaggerated" and his "starry-eyed view of Yurchenko is ... discredited." The author "betrays an acute anti-CIA bias." Allen, DIJ 2.1, adds that Kessler is "unconvincing.... While the account reads well it often does not seem credible." On the other hand, Surveillant 1.4 finds "numerous insights" in the book, gained "from interviews Kessler had with Yurchenko in Moscow."

Dick Gay, "Yurchenko, Bona Fides or Bogus," CIRA Newsletter 31.1 (Spring 2006), reprints Gay's entry on Yurchenko from Encyclopedia of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (Armonk, NY:  M.E. Sharpe, 2005), followed by his thoughts "Between the Lines," in which he suggests that the defection was an act to take the attention away from Aldrich Ames.

Khokhlov, Nikolai Y. In the Name of Conscience: The Testament of a Soviet Secret Agent. New York: David McKay, 1959. London: Muller, 1960.

According to Pforzheimer, Khokhlov was an MVD officer who defected in 1954 while on assignment to assassinate an anti-Soviet emigre. Khokhlov was unhappy with his handling by U.S. intelligence officials. Constantinides notes that the author devotes less time to "organization and practices" than he does to his personal thought processes.

Kravchenko, Viktor Andreevich.

For a biography of Kravchenko, see Gary Kern, The Kravchenko Case: One Man's War on Stalin (New York: Enigma Press, 2007).

1. I Choose Freedom: The Personal and Political Life of a Soviet Official. Garden City, NY: Garden City Publishing, 1947.

2. I Chose Justice. New York: Scribner's, 1950.

Wilcox: "Continuing adventures and exposes of Soviet official who defected."

3. Kravchenko, Viktor Andreevich, plaintiff. Kravchenko versus Moscow: Report of Famous Paris Case. London: Wingate, 1950.

Wilcox: "Libel action against the author by two he named."

Krivitsky, Walter G. In Stalin's Secret Service: An Expose of Russia's Secret Policies by the Former Chief of the Soviet Intelligence in Western Europe. New York: Harper, 1939. Frederick, MD: UPA, 1985 & 1995. I Was Stalin's Agent. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1939, and New York: Faulkner Books, 1992. In Stalin's Secret Service: Memoirs of the First Soviet Master Spy to Defect. New York: Enigma, 2000.

Clark comment: Krivitsky was a Soviet GRU "illegal" (his cover was as an art dealer in The Hague) operating in Western Europe; he defected in 1937. Krivitsky was either killed or committed suicide in February 1941. UPA's 1985 edition has a Preface by William Hood, which places the work in historical perspective. For a new biography of Krivitsky, see Gary Kern, A Death in Washington: Walter G. Krivitsky and the Stalin Terror (2003).

Goulden, Washington Times, 10 Aug. 2003, reviewing Gary Kern's A Death in Washington (2003), notes that In Stalin's Secret Service was "written by Isaac Don Levine" and adds that the work "for the most part has proved credible." Earl M. Hyde, Jr., "Still Perplexed about Krivitsky," International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 16, no. 3 (Fall 2003): 428-441, offers a readable (although somewhat speculative) review of Krivitsky's role and life between his defection and his death.

Pforzheimer notes that this is considered an "important 'core' book in the intelligence literature written by Soviet defectors. However, it is of mixed quality and occasionally subject to challenge in the light of later factual data." Nevertheless, "there is excellent material in this book" and it is "an important work." According to Constantinides, "[r]esearchers should keep in mind that the main thrust of the book is correct even though details may not be."

With regard to the 1992 edition, Surveillant 3.1 says that Krivitsky's story is "not completely told here.... [He] wrote the book to get survival money soon after arrival in the U.S.... Before he could write another ... he was found dead in a Washington, D.C. hotel room.... [H]e was never debriefed by the FBI." Commenting on the 2000 edition, Unsinger, IJI&C 15.2, reminds us that the focus of Krivitsky's work was not his espionage activities but, rather, the effort of a true believer to understand what Stalin was doing to the cause for which Krivitsky had labored.

Krotkov, Yuri. I Am from Moscow: A View of the Russian Miracle. New York: Dutton, 1967.

Wilcox: "Author was a KGB agent who defected to the British in 1963." He claimed to be "the KGB agent who recruited Wilfred Burchett."

Kuzichkin, Vladimir. Inside the KGB: Myth and Reality. London: André Deutsch, 1990. Inside the KGB: My Life in Soviet Espionage. Tr., Thomas B. Beattie. New York: Pantheon, 1990. Ivy Books, 1992.

Surveillant 2.4 identifies Kuzichkin as a "former illegals directorate officer who served overseas in Iran and defected in 1982." Taromsari, I&NS 8.2, says Inside the KGB "traces the development of a bright but naive young graduate, who is recruited into the KGB and exposed to a corrupt institution within a corrupt system."

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