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The Illegals: A History of Moscow’s Most Audacious Spy Program
by: Shaun Walker (Author)
Publisher: Profile Books
Publication Date: 2025-04-17
Language: English
Print Length: 416 pages
ISBN-10: 1788167775
ISBN-13: 9781788167772
Book Description
The Cold War had been over for two decades when, in 2010, ten Russian agents were arrested in the United States after a decade-long FBI operation. Astonishing, but underreported at the time, was the fact that among these ten spies were three couples who had spent decades living as Americans and an agent who had lived as an Uruguayan photographer for so long that he could barely even speak Russian. They had hidden their true identities from their children, neighbours, and even occasionally their partners.The Illegals captures the untold history of Russia’s deep cover spy programme, following its evolution from the talented “great Illegals” of the 1920s and ’30s up to the 21st century, when agents maintained their fake identities and loyalties even after the fall of the Soviet Union. Directorate S, which ran the illegals programme, is the most secretive within the KGB, but through hundreds of interviews and access to never-before-seen archives and files, Shaun Walker has been able to capture a history as essential as it is character-driven and entertaining.
Editorial Reviews
The Cold War had been over for two decades when, in 2010, ten Russian agents were arrested in the United States after a decade-long FBI operation. Astonishing, but underreported at the time, was the fact that among these ten spies were three couples who had spent decades living as Americans and an agent who had lived as an Uruguayan photographer for so long that he could barely even speak Russian. They had hidden their true identities from their children, neighbours, and even occasionally their partners.The Illegals captures the untold history of Russia’s deep cover spy programme, following its evolution from the talented “great Illegals” of the 1920s and ’30s up to the 21st century, when agents maintained their fake identities and loyalties even after the fall of the Soviet Union. Directorate S, which ran the illegals programme, is the most secretive within the KGB, but through hundreds of interviews and access to never-before-seen archives and files, Shaun Walker has been able to capture a history as essential as it is character-driven and entertaining.
