Of Spies and Spokesmen: My Life As a Cold War Correspondent by Nicholas Daniloff

An American reporter of Russian history assigned to Soviet-era Moscow might sound to have an side on his colleagues, but if he’s falsely accused of spying, any virtue quick evaporates. . . . .           

As a tender UPI correspondent in Moscow in the course of the early Nineteen Sixties, Nicholas Daniloff was hoping to jump-start his profession in his father’s place of birth, yet he quickly discovered that the chilly battle had its personal ideas of engagement. during this riveting memoir, he describes the truth of journalism at the back of the Iron Curtain: how Western newshounds banded jointly to thwart Soviet propagandists, how their “official resources” have been normally managed through the KGB—and how these resources might occasionally attempt to flip newsmen into collaborators.

Leaving Moscow for Washington in 1965, Daniloff honed his abilities on the nation division, then again to Moscow in 1981 to discover a extra open society. but if the FBI nabbed a Soviet agent in 1986, Daniloff was once arrested in retaliation and thrown into legal as a spy—an incident that threatened to undo the Reykjavik summit until eventually most sensible aides to Reagan and Gorbachev labored out a solution.

In addition to recounting a occupation within the thick of foreign intrigue, Of Spies and Spokesmen is brimming with inside of information regarding ancient occasions. Daniloff tells how the inside track media performed an important position in resolving the Cuban Missile concern, recollects the emotional impression of the JFK assassination on Soviet management, and describes the behind-the-scenes struggles that catapulted Mikhail Gorbachev to strength. He even stocks proof no longer informed to the general public: how the SAC could warn Moscow that its submarines have been too just about American seashores, why the Soviets shot down the KAL airliner with out visible identity, and the way American newshounds in Moscow occasionally did risky favors for our executive which may simply were flawed for espionage.

Daniloff sheds gentle not just on trendy figures similar to Nikita Khrushchev and Henry Kissinger but in addition on suspected spies Frederick Barghoorn, John Downey, and ABC correspondent Sam Jaffe—unfairly branded a Soviet agent by way of the FBI. furthermore, he assesses the functionality of Henry Shapiro, dean of yankee reporters in Moscow, whose 40 years within the adversary’s capital usually impress questions about his function and reputation.

 In describing how the Western press functioned within the outdated Soviet Union—and the way it nonetheless capabilities in Washington today—Daniloff exhibits that the Soviet Russia he got here to grasp was once way more advanced than the “evil empire” painted by means of Ronald Reagan: an online of propaganda and manipulation, to be certain, but additionally a spot of hospitality and friendship. And with Russia nonetheless discovering its method towards a brand new social and political order, he reminds us that seventy years of Communist rule left a deep influence on its nationwide psyche. As readable because it is eye-opening, Of Spies and Spokesmenprovides a brand new examine that country’s heritage—and on the perform of journalism in occasions of crisis.