Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia

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.



Key facts and the KGB and CIA. Information about Russian espionage and the CIA since the end of the Cold War. Cold War time line. Cold War glossary. Glossary of key espionage techniques. Notes. Selected primary sources. Selected bibliography. Index. Black-and-white photographs.