Stalin's Romeo Spy: : The Remarkable Rise and Fall of the KGB's Most Daring Operative - Softcover

Draitser, Emil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1519281374 ISBN 13: 9781519281371

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2010

Synopsis

Sailor, painter, doctor, lawyer, polyglot, and writer, Dmitri Bystrolyotov (1901–75) led a life that might seem far-fetched for a spy novel, yet here the truth is stranger than fiction. The result of a thirty-five-year journey that started with a private meeting between the author and Bystrolyotovin 1973 Moscow and continued through the author’s subsequent research in international archives, Stalin’s Romeo Spy, pieces together a life lived in the shadows of the twentieth century’s biggest events. One of the “Great Illegals,” a team of outstanding Soviet spies operating in Western countries between the world wars, Bystrolyotov was the response to Sidney Reilly, the British prototype for James Bond. A dashing man, his modus operandi was the seduction of women—among them a French embassy employee, a German countess, the wife of a British official, and a Gestapo officer—which enabled Stalin to look into diplomatic pouches of many European countries. Risking his life, Bystrolyotov also stole military secrets from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. A man of extraordinary physical courage, he twice crossed the Sahara Desert and the jungles of Congo.But his success as a spy didn’t save him from Stalin’s purges, at the height of which he was arrested and tortured until he falsely confessedto selling out to the enemy. Sentenced to twenty years of hard labor in the Gulag, Bystrolyotov risked more severe punishment by documentingthe regime’s crimes against humanity in unpublished and suppressed memoirs that rival those of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The first full-length biography in any language, at once a real-life spy thriller, a drama of desire, and a prison memoir, Stalin’s Romeo Spy is the true account of a flawed yet extraordinary man.

About this title

Review

'A larger-than-life figure. Extraordinarily handsome, sophisticated and highly resourceful... An ideal poster boy to inspire coming generations of Russian spies... One thing seems clear: the old habits of Russia s security and intelligence services die hard.' --The Times Literary Supplement

'Captivating... Stalin's Romeo Spy deserves the attention of anyone interested in the history of the Soviet intelligence services or the history of intelligence in general. Draitser's account reminds us of the feats of espionage the Soviet services were able to accomplish when they set aside all scruples... The book is a reminder of what we need to watch for.' --CIA, Studies in Intelligence

'This extraordinary biography...is gripping, entertaining and immensely formative. An invaluable memoir for understanding the workings of Soviet intelligence' Russian Life Magazine. -- 'Bystrolyotov was a remarkable spy even by the standards of an era when much of the world was crawling with intelligence agents... It is impossible to read Stalin s Romeo Spy without reflecting on the cruel and capricious nature of totalitarian regimes.' --The Wall Street Journal.

About the Author

Originally a journalist in the Soviet Union, Emil Draitser was blacklisted for a satirical article and, in 1974, immigrated to the United States, where he is now a professor of Russian at Hunter College in New York City. His most recent book is Shush! Growing Up Jewish Under Stalin: A Memoir.

Edition details

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1519281374
• ISBN 13: 9781519281371
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 464