The Spy Who Came in from the Co-Op: Melita Norwood and the End of Cold War Espionage - Couverture rigide

Burke, David

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1843834227 ISBN 13 : 9781843834229

Editeur : The Boydell Press, 2008

Synopsis

On September 11th 1999 The Times newspaper carried the front page article 'Revealed: the quiet woman who betrayed Britain for 40 years. The spy who came in from the Co-op.' Melita Norwood, the last of the atomic spies, had finally been run to ground, but at 87 she was deemed too old to prosecute. Her crime: the shortening of the Soviet Union's atomic bomb project by up to 5 years. At a time when the world faces fresh dilemmas caused by the proliferation of nuclear weapons, this is the remarkable story of a much earlier drama. After the atomic bomb strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, British and American intelligence estimated the earliest date for the production of a Soviet bomb to be 1953. In fact, the Soviet Union went nuclear in 1948, and tested an atomic bomb in 1949. The Soviet Union's bomb coincided with the onset of The Cold War, and threatened humankind with extinction. Melita Norwood was a member of one of those communist spy networks in America and Britain, who by guaranteeing those weapons of mass destruction threw down a challenge to America as sole superpower in the post-Second World War era.This fascinating book sets her in the context of the times, and uses her as a prism and focus through which to investigate the whole milieu. Dr. DAVID BURKE is a Supervisor for the Rise of the Secret World: Governments and Intelligence Communities since 1900 at the University of Cambridge.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

When the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb in 1949, its former allies were shocked: the West had not expected the USSR to attain a nuclear capacity until 1953 at the earliest. The Soviet success is attributed, at least in part, to its network of spies working in the nuclear programmes of Britain and America, spies like Klaus Fuchs and the Rosenbergs, who passed on secrets, plans and technical data. This is the story of the wartime and Cold War espionage and counter-espionage that helped to shape the modern world. It tells of spies and their handlers, and of the impact their activities had on the nuclear arms race and on international relations. It is also the story of one particular spy: Melita Norwood. Active from the late 1930s until 1972, Norwood, secretary, wife and mother, fed a stream of information back to Moscow and became one of the Soviets most valued spies. A life-long Communist sympathiser, she spied not for personal gain but to see the USSR reach equal footing with the West. When her secret was finally revealed in 1999, the then 87-year old was unapologetic but did admit, "In general, I do not agree with spying against one's country." This fascinating book sets her in the context of the times, and uses her as a prism and focus through which to investigate the whole milieu.

Revue de presse :

A valuable addition to the expanding library of works on the history of East-West espionage. --Times Higher Education Supplement

This is a splendid book, exhaustively researched and written in a clear, unpretentious style. --Guardian, 7 March 2009

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: The Boydell Press
• Date d'édition: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1843834227
• ISBN 13: 9781843834229
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 232