Read Online Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America by Harvey Klehr;John Earl Haynes;Alexander Vassiliev - Free Book Online
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operatives. Those people had become part of the history of the twentieth century, and their stories had to be told sooner or later by somebody.
I saw no reason why it shouldn't be me since I had something to tell. With Russell McNutt and Bertl Broda it was different. In 1996 I had no idea
what had happened to them, and I didn't want to do them harm. As far
as the history of Soviet espionage in America is concerned, it's important
to understand where I come from. I was born and bred in the Soviet
Union, and if to most Americans, individuals like Julius Rosenberg,
Nathan Gregory Silvermaster, and Theodore Hall are traitors, to me they
are still heroes. They helped my country in very difficult times, and I had
no reason to disrespect their memory or cause them any trouble if they
were alive. Ten years later, when John Haynes, Harvey Klehr, and I
started working on this book, I was sure no characters in my notebooks
remained alive: Michael Straight had died in 2004; Theodore Hall, perhaps the youngest agent, in 1999; and Alger Hiss, in 1996. Imagine my
surprise (and discomfort) when in the fall of 2007 John and Harvey discovered that Russell McNutt was alive and living in North Carolina, age
ninety-three, but refused to be interviewed on his activities. McNutt,
however, died in February 2008.
After The Haunted Wood was published, Allen Weinstein and I had
our portion of controversy, even without Russell McNutt and Bertl Broda.
The New Yorker published our piece on U.S. congressman Samuel Dickstein-in my opinion, one of the most exciting stories in the book. I expected people to talk about the love story of Elizabeth Bentley and Jacob
Golos, about the adventures of Boris Morros, or about the crisis in
Nathan Gregory Silvermaster's agent group. Instead they cared only
about Alger Hiss. I knew Hiss was important-Weinstein told me, but I
thought it was mostly Allen's personal interest since he had written a book
about Hiss before. Suddenly I found myself in the epicenter of a heated
discussion with people attacking my integrity.
Allen and l also had a personal falling out, prompted by my discovery
that he had used the Hiss material in a new edition of Perjury that appeared prior to the publication of our book. That discovery initiated a
brief correspondence with Victor Navasky, editor of The Nation and himself a fierce defender of Hiss. In May 2000 I received a letter from an
American writer named Susan Butler: "I have found many mistakes and
inconsistencies in Weinstein's Perjury. The fact that you, his co-author,
are highly critical of the finished product, The Haunted Wood, bears out
my instinctive negative reaction to Weinstein as reliable authority on anything. I would like to discuss both books with you." I answered by e-mail
on 8 May 2ooo: "Frankly speaking, I don't remember my being `highly
critical' of The Haunted Wood. How can I be critical of the book for which
I did research for 2 years and wrote a draft manuscript? In my opinion, it's an absolutely fantastic book which should be read (at least, bought) by
every American."
Butler and I met that same month at the Clifton Pub in St. John's
Wood in London. By that time I was well aware of the controversy surrounding Hiss and suspected Butler had an agenda. Yet I was prepared
to talk to everyone since I considered myself above the scuffle. Butler
probably felt she had started out on the wrong foot and changed her tune.
She lavished compliments on me and said everyone had liked The
Haunted Wood, including Michael Straight, who had a special chapter
devoted to him. I was mildly surprised since our story, based on Straight's
personal file from the KGB archives, differed from his account in After
Long Silence. Some time later Butler had a slip of the tongue: she said
Michael Straight had said or written something nasty about The Haunted
Wood. When I reminded her that she had said he liked the book, she
quickly explained that he just
I saw no reason why it shouldn't be me since I had something to tell. With Russell McNutt and Bertl Broda it was different. In 1996 I had no idea
what had happened to them, and I didn't want to do them harm. As far
as the history of Soviet espionage in America is concerned, it's important
to understand where I come from. I was born and bred in the Soviet
Union, and if to most Americans, individuals like Julius Rosenberg,
Nathan Gregory Silvermaster, and Theodore Hall are traitors, to me they
are still heroes. They helped my country in very difficult times, and I had
no reason to disrespect their memory or cause them any trouble if they
were alive. Ten years later, when John Haynes, Harvey Klehr, and I
started working on this book, I was sure no characters in my notebooks
remained alive: Michael Straight had died in 2004; Theodore Hall, perhaps the youngest agent, in 1999; and Alger Hiss, in 1996. Imagine my
surprise (and discomfort) when in the fall of 2007 John and Harvey discovered that Russell McNutt was alive and living in North Carolina, age
ninety-three, but refused to be interviewed on his activities. McNutt,
however, died in February 2008.
After The Haunted Wood was published, Allen Weinstein and I had
our portion of controversy, even without Russell McNutt and Bertl Broda.
The New Yorker published our piece on U.S. congressman Samuel Dickstein-in my opinion, one of the most exciting stories in the book. I expected people to talk about the love story of Elizabeth Bentley and Jacob
Golos, about the adventures of Boris Morros, or about the crisis in
Nathan Gregory Silvermaster's agent group. Instead they cared only
about Alger Hiss. I knew Hiss was important-Weinstein told me, but I
thought it was mostly Allen's personal interest since he had written a book
about Hiss before. Suddenly I found myself in the epicenter of a heated
discussion with people attacking my integrity.
Allen and l also had a personal falling out, prompted by my discovery
that he had used the Hiss material in a new edition of Perjury that appeared prior to the publication of our book. That discovery initiated a
brief correspondence with Victor Navasky, editor of The Nation and himself a fierce defender of Hiss. In May 2000 I received a letter from an
American writer named Susan Butler: "I have found many mistakes and
inconsistencies in Weinstein's Perjury. The fact that you, his co-author,
are highly critical of the finished product, The Haunted Wood, bears out
my instinctive negative reaction to Weinstein as reliable authority on anything. I would like to discuss both books with you." I answered by e-mail
on 8 May 2ooo: "Frankly speaking, I don't remember my being `highly
critical' of The Haunted Wood. How can I be critical of the book for which
I did research for 2 years and wrote a draft manuscript? In my opinion, it's an absolutely fantastic book which should be read (at least, bought) by
every American."
Butler and I met that same month at the Clifton Pub in St. John's
Wood in London. By that time I was well aware of the controversy surrounding Hiss and suspected Butler had an agenda. Yet I was prepared
to talk to everyone since I considered myself above the scuffle. Butler
probably felt she had started out on the wrong foot and changed her tune.
She lavished compliments on me and said everyone had liked The
Haunted Wood, including Michael Straight, who had a special chapter
devoted to him. I was mildly surprised since our story, based on Straight's
personal file from the KGB archives, differed from his account in After
Long Silence. Some time later Butler had a slip of the tongue: she said
Michael Straight had said or written something nasty about The Haunted
Wood. When I reminded her that she had said he liked the book, she
quickly explained that he just
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