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ferris_mx's review against another edition
5.0
The excellent foreward from Robert Conquest told me how to read this book. While I'm still a little confused by some stuff, like when Sudoplatov cites western sources presumably unknown to him, and when Sudoplatov's prose is footnoted with citations from Sudoplatov in an unusual way. It's not clear how much was written by Sudoplatov (or the Sudoplatovs) and how much by the Schechters.
This book really brought home the terror of living in the USSR, from someone who acted in a supporting role in many purges and eventually was purged himself. There was no theory supporting these purges, and it is surprising that a totalitarian dictatorship needs purges to support itself. Apparently it does, to retain the perfect mix of dependence and pliance on the part of the dictator's closest companions. Part of the author's thesis is that Khruschev was not so much a reformer as a participant in the totalitarian government.
If the author is to be believed, US nuclear scientists were penetrated much more fully than usually reported. The case is reasonably documented and does not seem incredible.
It's not fun to be reminded of how awful the USSR was, but it's important.
This book really brought home the terror of living in the USSR, from someone who acted in a supporting role in many purges and eventually was purged himself. There was no theory supporting these purges, and it is surprising that a totalitarian dictatorship needs purges to support itself. Apparently it does, to retain the perfect mix of dependence and pliance on the part of the dictator's closest companions. Part of the author's thesis is that Khruschev was not so much a reformer as a participant in the totalitarian government.
If the author is to be believed, US nuclear scientists were penetrated much more fully than usually reported. The case is reasonably documented and does not seem incredible.
It's not fun to be reminded of how awful the USSR was, but it's important.
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