Spies
The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia
-
-
4.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
A thrilling, critically-acclaimed account of the Cold War spies and spycraft that changed the course of history, perfect for young readers of Bomb and The Boys Who Challenged Hitler.
The Cold War spanned five decades as America and the USSR engaged in a battle of ideologies with global ramifications. Over the course of the war, with the threat of mutually assured nuclear destruction looming, billions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives were devoted to the art and practice of spying, ensuring that the world would never be the same.
Rife with intrigue and filled with fascinating historical figures whose actions shine light on both the past and present, this timely work of narrative nonfiction explores the turbulence of the Cold War through the lens of the men and women who waged it behind closed doors, and helps explain the role secret and clandestine operations have played in America's history and its national security.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Favreau (Crash: The Great Depression and the Fall and Rise of America) weaves vivid, succinct accounts of the volatile U.S.-Soviet relationship into his tension-inducing spy stories, which range from the 1940s to the 1991 collapse of the U.S.S.R. While detailing the lead-up to a spy's mission in Moscow in 1981, for example, the prologue crisply summarizes how an official policy of deterrence became the excuse for ever-proliferating nuclear weapons. Favreau's succeeding chapters cover a well-chosen selection of spies, defectors, double agents, and moles, in the West and behind the Iron Curtain, illuminating each spy's motivations and the spy craft employed. Several cases raise complicated moral questions, and sections on Russian espionage and the CIA since 1991 bring the reader up to 2018; Favreau ominously concludes, "The lessons of the Cold War... suddenly shockingly relevant a prologue, perhaps, to a new and ominous showdown between old enemies." Black-and-white photos and excellent supplemental material, including a Cold War timeline, glossaries of key espionage terms and techniques, a comprehensive list of sources, and further reading enhance the reader's understanding of this riveting, timely topic. Ages 12 up.
