Book Reviewlet: Spy Catcher by Peter Wright

How often does the deputy director of major western spy agency write a book about its innards? As far as I know, never. Britain’s MI5 and MI6 are roughly equivalent to America’s CIA. The author, Peter Wright, was a scientist brought in after WWII to modernize MI5.

At first he applied scientific methods and technology to discover how the Russians were spying on Britain during the Cold War. After numerous cases where the Russians seemed to know exactly what MI5 was doing, Wright began hunting for leaks within MI5.

It turned out that MI5 was riddled by Russian spies. Most of the spies, commonly called “moles”, came from Britain’s “upper” class. Worse, the moles were protected by other upper class MI5 members. In case after case, upper class personnel fought mole investigations. Only after a mole had confessed or defected did they believe that one of their own was a spy.

MI5 leaders were more worried about public embarrassment than finding moles. They prefered to have British and American secrets flow freely to the Russians, rather than catch and prosecute moles, which would’ve made for embarassing headlines in the British press. Countless Soviet Bloc citizens who helped western intelligence agencies were caught, tortured, and executed due to MI5 and MI6 moles.

The book’s most stunning revelation was that MI5 was very likely run by a Russian spy named Sir Roger Hollis for more than ten years.

On the bright side, Wright and many of his non upper class collegues worked dilligently for years, against fierce internal opposition, rooting out moles. The book also highlights the impressive British trait of getting the most out of limited resources. Although massively under funded compared to CIA and KGB budgets, MI5 eeked out major intelligence gains through sheer enginutity and cleverness.

Peter Wright did a great service to his country and America by publishing his memoir. The public in both countries needs to know of the treachery and class related dsyfunction that compromised British intelligence during the Cold War. And because America shared all it’s intelligence with Britain at that time, it compromised American intelligence too.

Wikipedia has more info on Spy Catcher. In particular, the British government embarrassed itself and lost a court case in Australia to stop the book from being published.

Worth the read: Yes. I give this book a 5 out of 5 star rating. It’s not a cloak and dagger spy novel. It’s the real thing.

Books Not Worth Reading

Books I read that weren’t worth the time or effort.

“Last of the Duanes” by Zane Grey (Dec 2007)

• Completely implausible and unbelievable. None of it has the ring of truth.

“The Rule of Four” by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason (Dec 2007)

• For me this wasn’t a good book. At least half of it was the narrator talking about the his and his roomate’s elitist life Princeton. I mean really, who cares? The book’s cover claims it’s a New York Times Best Seller. I find this hard to believe.
• The only cool thing about it was when the two main characters were actually solving riddles in a fictional Renaissance book called the “Hypnerotomchia Poliphili”. It was cool how they followed clues to find cyphers within the book to decipher the book’s hidden message. In this way, it was similar to the “The Da Vinci Code”. The secret message they uncover was worthwhile, especially for those who lament the burning of the ancient library at Alexandria.
• I must say, however, that for people who are really into serious scholarship and Renaissance history, this might be an enjoyable book.

Book Reviewlet: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

Best book I’ve read about the American revolution. I’ve read books by and about Ben Franklin, John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and now about the man on the $10 bill, Alexander Hamilton.

Major findings:

• It’s not an exaggeration to say Hamilton was a super genius with boundless energy and surprising integrity (especially for a politician). He made incredible contributions during his early twenties through his late thirties. You would be astounded to discover all his achievements done in such a short time and all dedicated to America. He was a true patriot.
• He came along at just the right time to define the actual functioning and power boundaries of each branch in the newly forming American government, and he got it right. When he became the first Treasury Secretary and Washington’s right hand man, America was little more than lofty ideas on a piece of paper.
• Although immensely talented, he was also prone to foolishness and folly.  He needed a wise, restraining hand to keep him from imploding. For Hamilton, that restraint was George Washington. Together they formed the greatest military/political force in American history. It is because of their partnership that we still have a country today. A country mainly defined by their shared vision.  These may sound like grandious  claims, but I think you’ll probably agree if you read the book.
• It’s amazing how many of the founding fathers thought that a federated group of American states wouldn’t last more than a few years. Many thought it would break-up into several smaller nations: the south, New England, etc.
• Before reading this book Thomas Jefferson was one of my heroes. But this book showed me, for the first time, his nasty flaws. Although still one of the greats who helped properly defined America, his treaturous (almost treasonous) behavior during the Washington and Adams administrations pushed him off my hero list.
• Hamilton, although a great man, was also very flawed. He doesn’t get on my hero list either. Both he and Jefferson are on my second highest list: People deserving the highest respect and gratitude. Washington is the only founder still on the hero list.
• For the most part, it’s not a thrilling book. It’s much more detailed than necessary. It could easily be 2/3rds it’s current 818 pages. I skimmed over many trivial pages. Nevertheless, it’s an essential read for any early American history buff. As far as founding father bios go, it’s the most human and least one-side view (of all participants) I’ve seen. I’ll be following up on Chernow’s other books.

Worth the read: Yes. In the American history genre, I give it 4 of 5 stars.

Books Recommend To Me

“Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms: My Life in American Politics” by Ed Rollins

“To Say Nothing of the Dog” by Connie Willus, (Sci-Fi. 1999 Hugo Winner & 1998 Nebula Finalist)

“The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins

“Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion“  by Robert Cialdini

Book Reviewlet: Last of the Breed

Just finished reading my first Louis L’Amour novel, “Last of the Breed”. A real page turner, it’s the story of a US Air Force test pilot in Alaska, who is betrayed and ends up in a KGB prison camp, where they specialize in picking western brains for military secrets and then disposing of the prisoners.

The test pilot, Joe Mack, just happens to be a Sioux Indian, who grew up in the wilds of Idaho, where he perfected Indian survival and warrior skills. He quickly escapes the prison and then leads most of the area’s Russian troops on a long chase through eastern Siberia. Along the way he meets a beautiful young Lithuanian woman he falls in love with. For the rest of the story, check out the book.

I liked the book a lot. If you admire survivalist skills and getting back to the life style of our pre-civilized ancestors, you might like it too. No deep thoughts in this book, just good adventure and escapism. Fortunately, there are few implausible occurrences to ruin it.

Worth reading: Yes. In the adventure genre, I give it a 4 out of 5 stars (5 is best).