The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on Russia--Past, Present, and Future

by Catherine Fitzpatrick, Yevgenia Albats

Release Date: December, 1994

Edition: Paperback

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The terrors of the KGB and much more!

This book is an excellent expose of the terrors and tortures of the Russian KGB. One marvels at their tenacity, brutality, and animal-like ruthlessness in hunting down their prey. Prey that included innocent and harmless religious groups, student groups, and just about anyone who disagreed with the Communist Ideology. America could learn much from the terrible living history of Russia. Americans have adopted similar tactics in dealing with those who disagree with the politically correct movements of our day. These are scary times we live in, and Russia should be a lesson to us all.

passionate albeit muddled

The State Within a State is an extremeley interesting book with a credible thesis (the KGB never really went away). I have problems with the author's obvious hatred of the Russian Revolution and Stalin and the way she claims there is an unbroken chain of horror going all the way back to 1917. Obviously things are better today- hence her book! She says 66.7 million people died under "Chekist" rule since the Russian Revolution-and then cites the Guiness Book of Records as her source!? No one could ever prove such a figure, I think its one of things thats repeated 'til it becomes fact. I also find the author's lack of knowledge about our own CIA kind of disheartening. This fine organization has spread as much death and terror in the Third World (Indonesia, Guatemala,Chile, Argentina, Brazil etc. etc. ) as the KGB ever did anywhere, yet she seems to make them out to be benevolent compared to the KGB (which if you read this book are responsible for everything wrong with the world today). After reading this book I still don't understand why she thinks the KGB or its incarnations are as bad today as they were at the height of the Terror in 1937. Its not really explained in the book. I still am not convinced that the KGB was the NKVD, and definitely convinced that either was the SS. Research I have done casually has never come up with hard, convincing figures for a Nazi style genocide in the USSR, and this anecdotal, unconvincing book didn't change my historical views.