KGB: The Inside Story of Its Foreign Operations from Lenin to Gorbachev

by Christopher Andrew, Oleg Gordievsky

Release Date: October, 1991

Edition: Paperback

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Flawed and incomplete yet still a good read

When this book came out, it was considered to be groundbreaking and astonishing as far as new information about Soviet operations goes. However, it is almost completely irrelevant. If one takes a close look at the book and compares it with "The Mitrokhin Files" (Mitrokhin being another KGB officer who defected several years later), it will be noted that much of the information Gordievsky SHOULD HAVE KNOWN if he really had access to all top Soviet files is missing. This, along with several other contradictory statements, leads us to conclude that the Soviets knew of Gordievsky's activities and so were using him to feed false and/or irrelevant information to the West.

Monumental but hardly captivating

This book tries to be both academic and a good read. Many writers stronger than Gordievsky failed when trying to achieve this.

The authors obviously have a wealth of material at their disposal, but somehow structured approach is lacking. Still, if you have time and/or deep interest in the subject, it is a recommended read.