The Billion Dollar Spy
A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal
by David E. Hoffman · first published 2016
78% recommend22% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Nonfiction Cold War espionage story centered on the CIA's recruitment of Soviet defector Adolf Tolkachev; recommended for fans of spy stories and for readers wanting real tradecraft detail.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"While getting into his car on the evening of February 16, 1978, the chief of the CIA's Moscow station was handed an envelope by an unknown Russian. Its contents stunned the Americans: details of top-secret Soviet research and development in military technology that was totally unknown to the United States. From 1979 to 1985, Adolf Tolkachev, an engineer at a military research center, cracked open the secret Soviet military research establishment, using his access to hand over tens of thousands of pages of material about the latest advances in aviation technology, alerting the Americans to pos
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…great (in no particular order): - The Sewing Girl's Tale (non-fiction) - The Odyssey (poem) - Tropic of Cancer (novel) - Tenth of December (short story collection). - Endurance (non-fiction) - The Billion Dollar Spy (non-fiction) - Agent Sonya (non-fiction) - Agent Running in the Field (novel) - Little Dorrit (novel) To be honest, I love most of the stuff I read this year. Only a handful of books I didn't like…
on “Ask HN: What is the best thing you read in 2022?” ↗If you enjoyed this story, you'll probably like the book "The Billion Dollar Spy" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23463183-the-billion-dol... that goes deep into the story of Adolf Tolkachev (among others) https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intellig...
on “Ex CIA Spy Recalls Her Time in Russia” ↗…CIA memoirs and spy novels, CIA Agents (aka sources or informants) are really foreign people reporting information to the CIA Officers which are US Government employees Yep. If you haven't read it, the Billion Dollar Spy details the efforts the CIA made in Moscow during the Cold War. Pretty good read. https://www.amazon.com/Billion-Dollar-Spy-Espionage-Betrayal...
on “Killing C.I.A. Informants, China Crippled U.S. Spying Operations” ↗…Struggle Between Russia's Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries - Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia If you're wanting true Spy stuff: - The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal - The Spy's Son: The True Story of the Highest-Ranking CIA Officer Ever Convicted of Espionage and the Son He Trained to Spy for Russia - Left of Boom:…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2017?” ↗…to be tedious; the books are all fun to read. I'd push back on the idea that le Carré wasn't aiming for art, though. (If tradecraft is what you're after, by the way, what you really want is Hoffman's "Billion Dollar Spy".)
on “Ian Fleming Explains How to Write a Thriller” ↗The Billion Dollar Spy by David E. Hoffman.
on “Ash HN: What is your must-read audiobook?” ↗…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwA6MmbeGNo For physical tradecraft, there's lots of reading: old declassified manuals, certainly read non-fiction spy novels (though you have to be able to read between the lines in a lot of places). Billion Dollar Spy is a good one for tradecraft. I would generally avoid movies -- I can't recall one where I've seen good tradecraft.
on “Ask HN: Any book that you can recommend about adquiring CIA skills?” ↗It's maybe one of the 3 best drama series of the last 20 years, and easily one of the 5 best. For a (nonfic) book in the same vein, try The Billion Dollar Spy.
on “John le Carré's 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold' is the ultimate spy novel” ↗All of the author's books are great imo. If you like cold war spy stories, you'd also enjoy Billion Dollar Spy.
on “Ask HN: Books about people who did hard things” ↗A few open books scattered through the house: Billion Dollar Spy, Hoffman (I’m kind of obsessed with Cold War espionage) SICP, JS edition (great read, I do a lot of JS work and I’ve learned a lot, despite time spent studying the language itself, and I’m still in…
on “Ask HN: Which book are you reading, since when?” ↗The book “Billion Dollar Spy” describes the CIA’s shredder in the Cold War era Moscow station as turning documents into powder.
on “Spy Dust (Nitrophenyl Pentadienal)” ↗