Handbook for Spies (WWII Classic) Paperback – January 17, 2011

Written in a cumbersome manner and author takes forever to get to the point. I had to force myself to finish it. Don't waste your time. Any of the information given is found elsewhere in more interesting and better written books. I couldn't believe how much the author dawdles and spends time justifying himself. The only 2 pages that are worth a damn are the sketches of the soviet network in Switzerland (attached for your viewing) Pick up any of the books by Ben Macintyre and you'll walk away having learned something new and far more interesting.

One of the best books on spying vintage WW2. It was first published years ago but is still relevant. It is also another reason counter intelligece agencies focused on those who fought in Spain for the Republic.

classic and still relevant; refreshingly intelligent

Great suff

Foote, alias Jim, former Soviet spy narrates his experiences working for Red Army Intelligence. Firstly, he says how he came to be recruited into the network.This was effected by a woman known by her cover name ` Sonia". Foote succumbed to the charms of Communism at a young age and volunteered to serve in the International Brigade in Spain fighting to save the Republican government from Franco's fascist forces. Book is filled with several interesting anecdotes of which a few are striking. As international crisis sharpened Centre in Moscow could not bring agents for training. So Foote says he had to learn all the necessary skills to perform his role as a spy of his own account . So he self-taught radio telegraphy, microphotography, secret inks, sabotage. Foote managed to bluff Swiss authorities into staying in an apartment where he rigged an aerial for his transmitter for communication with Moscow. Both practices were forbidden for foreigners seeking asylum in Switzerland.Author had a tough time establishing contact with Centre; host of technical details to be taken care of. Foote has explained the difficulties he experienced while doing so. It represented a challenge to a novice . Communication forms an important component of spy network and also its Achilles heel. If you are unable to pass on to the appropriate authority information gathered the work done by the agents becomes futile. Frequencies, call signs used for communication are frequently changed as a safety precaution to beat enemy's radio monitoring squads. However author says more time spend while transmitting more easy it becomes for the enemy to hunt down the transmitters by using radio D/F sets.Author has outlined the rules of `konspiratsiya' by providing a diagrammatic sketch how the organization worked. Further, he has argued the rules laid out are so impeccable , flawless that if scrupulously followed enemy counter-intelligence stood no chance in unmasking . Most important source of information was man called Lucy. Not his real name , his identity remained secret for a long time and was established long after the war came to an end. Details on Lucy supplied by the author are incomplete, inaccurate. New research has uncovered a lot on this mysterious,shadowy character. Former was getting reliable, accurate, detailed information from Werther who worked in the German High Command. This he passed on through cut-outs, resident director Rado to the author for transmission to Moscow.Initially , Centre was skeptical about information received considering Lucy as a conduit for feeding disinformation; too good to be true. Author argues only exigencies of war forced Centre accept information at face value, an unorthodox practice going by Soviet espionage standards. Under normal circumstances information is accepted only after thoroughly vetting the source. Another point to note speed with which information was reaching Moscow made Soviets distrust this source. According to author operational decisions were known 24 hrs of it being taken at appropriate HQ's in Berlin. Author has argued this intelligence bonanza helped Soviet regime to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.What has intrigued me is Lucy's principle source of information `Werther'. But who was Werther? Does it refer to a single man or group which worked against interests of Nazi regime? Author has not been able to solve the mystery surrounding Werther. Post-war CIA study has done it partially. It represented a body of top ranking officers of German High Command who loathed Nazi regime and some of whom were involved in an abortive plot to assassinate Fuehrer.It was interesting to read how the Swiss discovered the activities of Soviet spy ring. Author is amazed even after its discovery Swiss authorities refused to take action even though latter's actions flouted Swiss neutrality laws. Today we why was this so. Switzerland was also a beneficiary to intelligence passed on by Lucy. Finally, it was pressure from Gestapo which forced former to take action.Before the war came to close Foote came to Moscow to meet his Soviet masters. Author had a tough time in disabusing latter's notion that he was British double agent. The ordeal , author has recalled, left him dry and exhausted. For the first time readers are given a glimpse of life inside iron curtain.He also has harsh words for Centre whose actions he condemns as cynical. Agents are used and then discarded without any consideration. So he decided to quit, for Foote by this time was utterly disillusioned by Communism. Soviet actions author found to his dismay were no different from those of other Capitalist powers.I'm glad that author chose to share information with posterity on his life as a Soviet spy. The book contains no source material. Author wrote it down when his memory of what he did remained clear and fresh. Many authors have drawn information from this work to write their epic histories of Soviet secret services. Text is very colorful littered with French and Latin words that often I had to use online resources available to check its meaning. This book is best read in unison V.E Tarrant `s work Red Orchestra.

I am familiar with the book and have always thought how complicated theencryption process was which, without the aid of machinery to speed it up,must have been very time-consumingThe last part of the book appears to be fudged and written in another hand. Depite that, theevents remain gripping and an excellent read, although the binding could be a tad better

Excellent book

Utterly fascinating