Product Description
One of the most popular and award-winning television series of the sixties, I Spy was the first weekly broadcast to star both a white and a black actor. In 1964, though, producer Sheldon Leonard had, with heavy risk, financed the show himself, and his idea for a racially incorporated cast had earned his show the moniker "Sheldon's Folley." Pairing established white actor Robert Culp with Bill Cosby, a black comedian with barely an acting credit to his name, certainly turned some heads at NBC, and many wondered whether affiliates in the South would ever air the show. Only two years later, Cosby accepted the Emmy for leading actor-and I Spy cemented its role in history. This is a complete history of I Spy and the profound change it evoked in broadcasting, social ideals and racial equality. Rich with interviews and photographs, it discusses I Spy's unique approach to race, co-starring interracial actors as equals. It also describes how the show became the template for popular "buddy genre" shows and films that followed, covers the show's significance as the first series to shoot episodes around the world, and puts I Spy in context with other works within the spy genre at a time when spy books, shows and films exploded in popularity. A complete episode guide includes writers, directors, cast, crew, plot synopsis and commentary.
Customer Reviews:
Enormously rewarding.......2007-06-29
Most TV series histories/episode guides are either short on thorough research, perceptive criticism, or engaging prose -- or (typically) all three. This one, however, nails them, and it's got some cool, little-seen photos and fun, informative interviews to boot.
Cushman and LaRosa have done outstanding work here, and kudos to McFarland for packaging their work so attractively. This book is up there with David J. Schow's The Outer Limits Companion, which set a standard over 20 years ago that's rarely been met since.
Like the series it so exhaustively and passionately covers, the "I Spy" guide is a pleasure from start to finish. Impressive work all around.
Superb Piece of Research .......2007-03-17
This is a seriously excellent piece of work, and McFarland have done a superb job in translating Marc and Linda's text into an extremely attractive - and very hefty! - book.
I was surprised at the large dimensions of the book (I was already aware there was a generous page count). This is larger than HAWAII FIVE O (hardback version) and EXPLORING SPACE:1999 (paperback)...my two other 'main' McFarland's devoted to specific tv series. The general impression on opening the package is one of QUALITY.
The balance between the synopsis for each episode, and then script excerpts and behind the scenes stories is spot on, and I congratulate the authors. Episode Guides are everywhere these days, as are DVDs. So I'm glad that only the basics of the each story are covered because that allows much more space to be given over to what I'd regard as the meat of the book - the behind the scenes stories, the interviews and the background.
And photos - most of which I haven't seen before. Photo illustration is an aspect of McFarland's tv books which is often a bit of a let-down. Not in this case it isn't.
Anyone who thinks this is a cut and paste job is very wide of the mark. The research that has gone into the book is self evident and sets a very high bar for subsequent books of the kind to match.
I came very late to I SPY. I seem to remember that it was shown here in England, but in the sixties my age wasn't even into double figures. I bought the three DVD box sets from Image Entertainment a few years back, after hearing the Film Score Monthly CD of some of Earle Hagen's scores. Other than what I've gleaned off the Internet and occasional references in cultural media (and the Culp commentaries on the DVDs), I have been ignorant of the behind the scenes stories and background to the show and its genesis.
Time, I think, to work again through the series, episode by episode, with the book as a companion!
Savor It Slowly.......2007-03-01
What truffles are to regular chocolate is what I Spy by Marc Cushman and Linda LaRosa is to any other book covering this remarkable series. (Not to mention being so rich and flavorful it has to be enjoyed in very small bites.)
Chapter One does open a bit slowly, with so many references to other novels, movies, and shows that I almost had to check the cover to remember what I was reading about. I was also Jarred by the Editorial Choice to Capitalize the Racial terms Black and White. While this may have been a common style in the 1960's, when I Spy was being broadcast, it doesn't match the modern vocabulary and writing style of the book.
However, reading on, the material redeems those small faults. You get everything here - the backstory to the development of the show; tasty tidbits about the writers, directors, actors, and producers; and a frame of what else was happening in television at the time. The episode guides are wonderful, and offer honest criticism of the weaker episodes as well as praise for the stronger ones.
If you were or are an I Spy fan, you'll probably want to sleep with this book under your pillow. If you're not an I Spy fan, you will be after you read this book. Buy it!
The "Wonderfulness" of the "I SPY" Book.......2007-02-19
What a terrific book!!! More than worth the 40 year wait for any fan of "I SPY," Robert Culp, Bill Cosby and TV nostalgia. This comprehensive and extremely well researched book covers all aspects of the series - and the careers of both Culp and Cosby. The book includes extensive interviews with Robert Culp and many of the writers, plus the families of the producers, the man behind the music - Earle Hagen, the production staff, guest stars, and, of course, Bill Cosby, too. The book is beautifully written, filled with stories and anecdotes to delight every fan - capturing the humor, drama, and adventure of the series that made it such a standout.
The book thoroughly covers the "behind-the-scenes" stories of Sheldon Leonard's daring experiment filming a TV series in exotic locations around the world and the problems that entailed. Stories about all aspects of production, location, the actors, and in-depth episode reviews are included. There is also an intriguing " Story Behind the Story" highlighted for each episode, filled with fascinating information few have ever heard until now, including the re-writes done by Culp and Cosby. Fascinating and often funny stories about the censors, and delightful "Mail Bag" letters sent in by fans, make for entertaining reading.
The book sets "I SPY" in the context of the times it was first aired. Race relations, Cosby's and Culp's relationship, and "the wonderfulness" of their friendship and camaraderie are examined, along with magazine articles giving a flavor of the times. The show is discussed with a historical and sociological perspective, including the impact and import of having the first black actor to star in a prime-time TV show. "I SPY" is also discussed as the forerunner for "the buddy genre" with two equal partners fighting the bad guys to save the world.
This book is "extremely" well-written and researched - and the many stories and extensive photographs will definitely delight everyone who opens the pages of this book.
superlative history of great show.......2007-02-03
One of the all-time great and truly groundbreaking television shows, I SPY had somewhat disappeared from the public consciousness until the DVD revolution made the episodes available again. Now, a book many fans thought would never arrive does, and it's stacked; over 400 pages of history, commentary, reviews, interviews (including brand new ones with Culp, Cosby, writers, editors and directors such as Richard Sarafian), arcane trivia, discussion of the never-to-be-fourth season, the Culp-directed HICKEY AND BOGGS, the reunion tv flick, the board games and so forth.
It's particularly useful to Robert Culp fans, as he's never had a book published on his career; it does cover his entire career in some detail, with Culp's own commentary on it, but anyone who loves I SPY, spy television, 60s television, or Culp or Cosby (whose entire career is overviewed as well) should find this book a welcome addition to their library. Mcfarland books can be overpriced, but this one is actually worth the cost. I ordered mine directly from the publisher; it should be available by traditional outlets later this year.
Book Description
Sylvanus G. Morley (1883-1948) has been highly regarded for over a century for his archaeological work among the Maya pyramids. As director of the Carnegie Archaeological Program, he supervised the reconstruction of Chichén Itzá, one of today's most visited sites in Central America.
Harris and Sadler present information showing Morley used his archaeological skills and contacts to covertly spy for the U. S. Office of Naval Intelligence during World War I. His primary charge was to detect and report German activity along the more than 1200 miles of eastern Central American and Mexican coastlines. To aid him in this special "fieldwork," Morley recruited other archaeologists, assigned them specific territories in which to work, and, together, they maintained a constant vigil.
In this remarkable story of a remarkable man and his colorful associates, Harris and Sadler bring to vivid life an unknown story of early American intelligence. They illuminate the start of today's vast spy apparatus. A lively, scholarly, and useful job.--David Kahn, author of The Codebreakers and Hitler's Spies.
“This is superior scholarship. Rumors and allegations existed about anthropologists acting as spies, but this is the first credible account. Sadler and Harris have written the most significant book available on U.S. intelligence during World War I in Latin America. For historians of intelligence agencies, this is a must read volume.”—William H. Beezley, University of Arizona
Sylvanus G. Morley was the most influential Mayan archaeologist of his generation and perhaps the greatest American spy of WWI. Harris and Sadler document for the first time Morley's dual career as a scholar and a spy. Working for the Office of Naval Intelligence, he proved an invaluable source of information about German and anti-American activity in Mexico and Central America.
Customer Reviews:
Spymaster extraordinaire.......2004-05-28
Other reviews tell you accurately what this book is about. If you're looking for a spy, chase, suspense, thriller, or murder account, this isn't it, despite the flashy cover. Instead, this is primarily an unabashedly pro-American history report on a World War I sidelight, intended for those interested in the development of American intelligence services. If you are into Maya archaeology, this book will remind you that Morley (author of the pioneering: The Ancient Maya, 1946) was a very impressive hyperactive fellow.
For what it is-a dry academic piece with flashes of patriotism-this is an informative book. It substantially expands on a two-year episode in the fuller picture of Morley's adventurous career depicted by his biographer, R. L. Brunhouse (1971, Sylvanus G. Morley). Harris and Sadler's focus is really on the development of the Office of Naval Intelligence, using Morley as its central figure, I think, because he left uniquely complete diaries of this period (and throughout his life). The authors delve deeply into old ONI files and look at other academic spies, and at sub-agents recruited by Morley and his stumbling handlers, and what befell them. (They build on their previous book on clandestine activities in Mexico: The Border and the Revolution). Because extensive extracts from Morley's diaries and his 32 espionage reports are included, there's a great deal of entertaining local color on the 1917 state of radio, shipping, ports, earthquakes, diplomacy, Central American politics, etc. If you know this area you may enjoy these details of how it used to be. There is very little, however, on Morley's archaeological discoveries and publications during these years.
Morley may indeed have been America's greatest WW I spy in terms of his successful assessment of the submarine threat, but he turned up no German spies while Black Listing a few German companies in Central America. Harris and Sadler leave the reader with no way to evaluate their claim that Morley was the "greatest," because they don't compare his accomplishments to other theaters of the war, or services beyond ONI. Nor do they follow up their own references to German propagandists and activists in Mexico who might actually have been threats.
Another theme that briefly emerges, only to be dismissed with an editorial huff, is that of the propriety of archaeologists, or field scientists in general, becoming spies in foreign lands. Such activities, when they become known later, bring all their innocent fellow scientists in the field into suspicion, disrepute, and actual danger in the eyes of foreigners and officials who control their access. This is in addition to the common peasant suspicion that people like Morley walking around with compass and tape are really "looking for gold, or working for the government to take the farm away."
Searching for German Submarine Bases.......2004-01-20
During the First World War, the German submarine forces were a serious threat to allied victory. If the Germans had been able to construct a secret base in some remote corner of Central America, the potential damage to shipping would have been immense. How to ensure that this did not happen before satellite reconnaissance and computerized communications monitoring? One answer the Office of Navel Intelligence devised was to recruit archaeologists who were tramping around the jungles and rivers as part of their academic pursuits.
One of the most productive archaeologist/spies was Sylvanus Griswold Morely, M.A. Harvard, who spent most of the war years journeying through the Central American jungles and rivers in search of ancient ruins and preparing detailed reports on the potential for German exploitation of the remote sites. This book describes his travels in Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Sylvanus was accompanied by cartoonist John Held who prepared detailed maps of their excursions. The book includes some samples of Held's excellent cartography. Charles Harris and Louis Sadler also discuss other academic recruits to naval intelligence and their contributions in Central America.
This is a real niche in the history of American military intelligence and will appeal to those interested in one of the lesser-known war efforts. The appendices contain copies of actual reports submitted by Morely and the book contains copies of pages from the notes taken by the agents as they endured "ticks, mosquitoes, fleas, sand flies, saddle-sores, seasickness, bar-running, indifferent grub, and sometimes no grub at all, rock hard beds, infamous hostelries and even earthquakes."
Book Description
The story of Anton Dilger brings to life a missing chapter in U.S. history and shows, dramatically, that the Great European War was in fact being fought on the home front years before we formally joined it. The doctor who grew anthrax and other bacteria in that rented house was an American-the son of a Medal of Honor winner who fought at Gettysburg-on a secret mission, for the German Army in 1915. The Fourth Horseman tells the startling story of that mission led by a brilliant but conflicted surgeon who became one of Germany's most daring spies and saboteurs during World War I and who not only pioneered bio-warfare in his native land but also lead a last-ditch German effort to goad Mexico into invading the United States. It is a story of mysterious missions, divided loyalties, and a new and terrible kind of warfare that emerged as America-in spite of fierce dissention at home-was making the decision to send its Doughboys to the Great War in Europe.
This story has never been told before in full. And Dilger is a fascinating analog for our own troubled times. Having thrown off the tethers of obligation to family and country, he became a very dangerous man indeed: A spy, a saboteur, and a zealot to a degree that may have so embarrassed the German High Command that, after the war, they ordered his death rather than admit that he worked for them.
Customer Reviews:
"The Enemy Within".......2007-08-11
Robert Koenig's portrayal of Anton Dilger's mission to bring germ warfare to America during WWI is far more than just a gripping story of biological warfare and sabotage in one of its first modern instances. Koenig's work resonates to our own contemporary struggle against terrorism in a number of different ways. First, Koenig delves into the psyche and family history of Anton and with painstaking research presents to the reader the fascinating story of how an American born medical student becomes an agent for Imperial Germany. Second, we are reminded of the response of the US government in dealing with the supposed "enemy within", in both its indiscriminate nature and ineffective results. Finally, Koenig also reminds us of the societal response towards the supposed German-American "threat", one that had its own "liberty stakes" (taste great when combined with "freedom fries", one would assume).
This is a very well researched book that combines intrigue of the mysterious world of spies during WWI with a personal story of a man who chose to betray his country, one that his father served proudly during the Civil War. In a way, Koenig offers a reminder that our current predicament is not so unique.
A very well researched, well written book........2007-05-25
I've read the book a couple of times and have gotten more out with each reading. Bob Koenig has done a tremendous job in terms of the accuracy of his research. His writing style draws the reader into the story. Excellent and highly recommended.
Gripping book, painstakingly researched.......2007-04-06
To someone from outside the US, this book brought many revelations, foremost of which was the insight into the thriving German community that existed there prior to 1914, but now is no more. We are familiar with Italian, Greek and Polish influences, but the Germans, as the enemy after a bitter war, had to subsume their culture.
The anti-hero of this gripping book, Anton Dilger, belonged to a family which was more American than German already, but he felt the pull back to earlier roots. The personal letters and insights that Rob Koenig has painstakingly researched show how horrific incidents like the Corpus Christi Massacre in Karlsruhe can have far-reaching effects through people struggling with their identity.
Koenig tells this story in such a way that you do not know what is coming, and thus every chapter has an impact. Throughout, he reveals his mastery of scientific writing for the public. I've read some of his other work on contemporary science, and was delighted to see this historical work. I hope he does another book. This one, meanwhile, is highly recommended to those who like biography, travel, history, science and warfare, all rolled up in one.
Dogged Search for an Elusive Spy.......2007-03-14
My name is Tim O'Neil (husband of Christine). For a decade, Robert Koenig and I worked together as reporters at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I offer this as personal disclosure and testimony to my knowledge of Mr. Koenig's fine work. He is thorough in research and careful to confirm information. His writing is clear and absorbing. He applied those skills in writing The Fourth Horseman. He read family files and forgotten government archives. He searched hard for single documents to explain or confirm information on Anton Dilger, and then wrote a full narrative of the motivations and acts of a man who worked hard to cover his tracks. He took time to explain Dilger's era, especially its reliance upon horses, to provide the setting for one man's trail. The result is a fine book.
The Fourth Rider is Pestilence --.......2007-03-14
Because we now remember WWI for its industrialized slaughter, we have almost forgotten how important horses still were to the conduct of war -- so important that disrupting the shipment of horses from the U.S. to Britain and France was a priority for the German war effort. One of the first organized attempts at germ warfare was directed at infecting horses bound for Europe.
This story of Anton Dilger, an American surgeon who worked undercover as a saboteur for the Germans, has an historical sweep that will engage a broad audience -- particularly in light of our newly-heightened fears of biological warfare. The underlying research makes the book a resource for specialists in several areas -- WWI, military history, biological warfare -- and the graceful presentation also suits it to the general reader of history.
Dilger, the son of a Civil War cavalry officer, betrayed his family, his country and his profession in organizing the infection of American horses with anthrax and glanders germs. The author follows him from his childhood in rural Virginia through his education in Germany, his recruitment and work as an undercover agent, to his probable death -- never entirely confirmed -- in Spain during the flu pandemic in 1918.
Even after almost a century, a sad immediacy clings to many aspects of this story. The horses are gone, but much else remains the same.
Book Description
Reflecting on a career that spanned from Little Rock to the South Pacific, from criminal probes to counterintelligence, Agent I.C. Smith tells all about the FBI's most historic cases-from Watergate to today-in this engaging and controversial book. With his characteristic candor, Smith recounts his colorful experiences with FBI and CIA directors, Supreme Court justices, Janet Reno, the spies Morris and Eva Childs, Cuban General Rafael del Pino, as well as Robert Hannsen and Kenneth Starr. Filled with startling new information (including seventy never-before-published revelations), this book gives behind-the-scenes details of FBI investigations, revealing untold secrets about the spy Larry Wu-Tai Chin, dealings with Cuban intelligence officers, the disbanded Arkansas cult known as Covenant Sword and the Arm of the Lord, and both of the Clintons. And it confronts head-on the errors inside the FBI, pointing out management failures-both at FBI headquarters as well as in the field offices-that led to the attacks of 9/11.
Customer Reviews:
Refreshing Truthfulness..........2007-10-06
Great Book. Anyone who's followed history and current events for any length of time must be aware of the FBI's arrogance, public failings, and history of horrible decision making (overall, in general terms..certainly not everyone in the oranization). Much (or most) of it through horrible management. It's documented nearly every day. I.C. Smith details just a few of these instances in his book (along with, of course, the ubiquitus political, white house, and DOJ interferrences). It's no wonder he left the FBI soured.
Interestingly, he even mentions the FBI's trend towards a paramilitary dress code and mentality. Apparently many individuals in the FBI feel cool wearing paramilitary clothing and brandishing automatic weapons. He says the FBI has changed a lot since he began...much of it not being for the better. As an aside, I'd like to hear his opinion on these "national security letters" and their publicized
abuses.
Great book for those who want a better understanding of the FBI and why they do the things they do.
Steady, Readable Account . Interesting but not Compelling.......2006-11-13
This is an interesting book with serviceable writing that will leave you uneasy about the state of our intelligence gathering and security. The 3 stars are more for writing style but there is a lot of merit in the content.
The author relays, at first, many good stories from what sounds like an honorable career with the FBI. Even as he wades more deeply into the swamp of corruption in the state of Arkansas these episodes have an almost folksy travelogue-esque style with a report-writing quality that is still readable enough to do the job. I had to remind myself that his manuscript was scrubbed through a sanitizing process by at least FBI and CIA agency reviews before publication.
Still we see interagency rivalries, incompetent bureaucrats, inappropriate political interventions, the ever-dysfunctional state department along with internal agency problems. He closes with some sobering observations on crisis of leadership and the FBI's drift away from its mission and missteps that made it a less than stellar player in the road to 9/11 and after. I found the last chapters most worth the read for this.
Taken in conjunction with the excellent (and highly recommended works) Terrorist Hunter, and the Third Terrorist, this book completes a picture of an agency in trouble.
I recommend these latter 2 books first for more info on the war with terrorists, but if you have time, Mr. Smith's memoirs are a nice read. And his book does, indeed, have a treasure trove of insights into the headlines of the 90's and bureaucratic bungling that will drive you crazy.
Best FBI Memoir in Decades.......2006-10-18
Not often does a career FBI manager write his uninhibited expose of the FBI. Street agents will stand up and applaud loudly. FBI deskjockeys will cringe behind their desks preferring to believe FBIHQ press releases. I so enjoyed the book I attempted to get my copy autographed but the author's email address is no longer in use. Nota bene: SAC Smith's comments on the Squiggly Box (aka polygraph) is alone worth the price of the book-----and is a chilling caveat to those who might even consider having their lies detected by wires, waves and wiggly lines. Suggest a followup: the 9/11 books by Peter Lance.
Great Read - Highly Recommended .......2006-09-28
Smith's autobiography of his career with the FBI provides an outstanding view of many faces of the FBI. Smith captures the good, the bad and the ugly. Reading the book helps the reader to understand some of the Bureau's great achievements and failures.
The book provides a useful look into the culture of the FBI, a culture that has both great achievements and failures. Like so many other governmental and private organizations as more information is passed to headquarters through the information highways, micromanagement increases and leadership decreases. Clearly this was the case at the FBI.
Published after 9-11 the author offers some very insightful comments on what could have been done and what should be done in the future. Smith also traces the debacles at Waco and Ruby Ridge to leadership failures at the FBI headquarters and the appointment of a HRT leader with no experience in the area of hostage rescues or swat operations.
Sadly these same institutional deficiencies would later prove to be part of the fabric of failure which allowed 9-11 to happen. The Marines stress a culture where the opinions and experience of the senior NCO's are respected and nourished. Sadly the FBI evolved to an organization that failed to maintain high ethical standards and leadership in its headquarters and in doing so betrayed the Nation and the great people in the field.
Smith wanders in and out of international intrigue and then returns to handling high profile domestic cases.
It is not a true history of the bureau, but, rather one agent's journey through a distinguished career at the FBI at a time when its leadership was not up to the quality of the men and women in the field and the challenges it faced.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspects of the book are the allegations that top management of the FBI lied to Congress and others on the issue of critical matters relating the 9-11. Perhaps this is part of the culture that grew after the Bureau promoted senior leadership that had lied under oath about Ruby Ridge and had destroyed documents relating the the issue. Smith points out that the FBI was warned years well in advance about the number of Muslim fundamentalist students taking flight training in the US and after the fact claimed not to have had the resources to have conducted an investigation. With warning from multiple offices, Smith believes that an average analyst would have concluded that there was a real threat. Hence the claim by Freh that there were no signals was simply false. Smith also asserts that the FBI never concluded a complete review of the many documents captured in Manila years earlier. Not only did these documents related to Al Qaeda plots to bomb American aircraft but they also had the potential to relate to the Murad office building bombing.
Highly recommended.
A very interesting insider's view. Not to be missed........2005-04-30
If there's one thing that can be said about the FBI it is that they try to keep a spotless image with the public. What exactly goes on inside the FBI? I. C. Smith comes forward with this account of his personal experiences as a Special Agent in Charge. Mr. Smith takes the reader on an autobiographical tour around the world including diplomatic experiences, terrorism, and the many times the FBI ignored mounting internal evidence that could have prevented tragedies. This is the inside story told from his point of view. It not only exposes bungling within the FBI but also examines some of the corrupt systems in which the FBI must work. As Special Agent in Charge of the Arkansas office he had unique insight into and a lot of problems dealing with the corrupt political system through which Bill Clinton rose to become governor and then president. Mr. Smith pulls no punches and includes lots of names in the book including Janet Reno, Rafael del Pino, the Clintons, and Kenneth Starr. Inside: A Top G-Man Exposes Spies, Lies, and Bureaucratic Bungling Inside the FBI is highly recommended, entertaining, and enlightening.
Book Description
This book tells the story of a middle-class teenager, recent high school graduate, who ran away from home to join the partisans after her boyfriend was killed. She served with another girl, of working class background, whose story is also told. The third young woman, whose parents were farmers, supplied important intelligence to Soviet army which, in the long run, assisted the Western powers in defeating the Nazis. Some American universities are using this book as a textbook. Unlike Anne Frank who died in a German concentration camp, Ina Konstantinova, the main heroine of the book, perished while covering the retreat of fellow partisans. This book is a source of information about the German occupation of Soviet Russia and the struggle behind enemy lines on the Eastern Front. The book's North American editor was awarded the 1999 Mary Zirin Prize by the Association for Women in Slavic Studies (affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic St! udies).
Customer Reviews:
Defending Leningrad: Women Behind Enemy Lines.......2005-09-25
Loved the book! The service was speedy, the item I purchased was in pristine condition. I'm impressed!
Nancy
A teenager's war.......2001-06-24
We live (as western Europeans or Americans) in a culture where “war” is something far away, usually on the other side of a TV screen. Our kids are living sheltered lives – and often we would like to see them even more protected. So, if it’s always difficult to understand the motivations behind a soldier’s will to fight, it’s even more difficult when the soldier is a 18th years old girl. Born and bred in a cultured family, she could have easily avoided being involved, and instead escaped to choose the worst kind of war – partisan duty behind German lines on the Eastern Front, paying the ultimate price for this choice. There could be a strong potential for the worst rhetoric on the “beauty” of patriotism and self-immolation, but “Defending Leningrad” (another entry on prof. K.J. Cottam series of books on Soviet women’s role during WWII) avoid these simplifications, giving us an invaluable insight on a teenage mind reacting to the reality of conflict.
“Defending Leningrad” is actually a collection of writings. The emotional core is the diary and letters of Ina Konstantinova, the above mentioned teenage, who volunteered to join a partisan brigade stationed behind German lines on the Leningrad front from 1942 to 1944. She worked as a scout collecting intelligence on German troop movement, was arrested several times (always escaping fortuitously), and finally was killed while covering her comrades retreat when her unit was surrounded by German security troops. It’s a remarkable document in its sparseness, its simple, almost banal candour.
Before the war, we see Ina being emotional after reading Victor Hugo “The Miserables” (typically, she idolised Jean Valjean but despised Cosette) and Jack London “Martin Eden”; daydreaming on her future; getting romantic – all summed up, being a very ordinary teenager of her time. The was comes as a big shock, but in her heart Ina seems to be unchanged, at least until her boyfriend is KIA on the front. This event, plus a confused desire to “do something more” – and a not-so-vague longing for independence and adventure – precipitate her choice. The letters to her mother and sister and her diary’s entries from the front reveal a mix of emotions: fear, homesickness, pride for her role but also horror for what she’s seeing – and not always confined to Nazi’s actions, see her reaction to the execution of a collaborationist. She does what she can to reassure her mother that after all everything is OK, that her dad (actually, the Intelligence Chief of her brigade) is protecting her. She’s hardening (at one point she remarks matter-of-factly that her “bodycount” amount to 15 Germans killed), but even if she tries to hide it, the war hardships are progressively taking a toll on her resolve. She never doubt that what she’s fighting for is right, but her unexpressed desire to find again the pre-war serenity is highlighted but the banality of most of what seems important to her – her family well being, getting food and clothes, her young sister’s studies. The abrupt ending of the document seems only to highlight this loss.
Ina’s diary (originally published as “The Girl From Kashin”), is not a literary masterpiece, and you’ll not find the harrowing passages of Anne Frank’s famous book. But this – in my opinion – just add to its sincerity. And compared to it, “Defending Leningrad” other sections are more problematic. The first is Ina’s father tale on his daughter predicament. It’s an interesting counterpoint, but raises more questions that it solves: was he right? Torture and a painful death were the usual fate of captured female partisans - doubters can look the pictures a page 71-72 of Erickson’s “Eastern Front In Photographs”, and remember that such horrors happened even on the Western Front. How could a father rationally send his daughter to face such risks, even for a cause that he sees as good? Ina’s dad never answers, and this silence is revealing: but truth is that we don’t have an answer as well.
The last two pieces are straightforward narratives dealing with the fate of two of Ina’s comrades-in-armes. “Masha’s Birch Trees” is a short story on the life – and death – of Masha Pryvayeva, another partisan scout that was captured and gruesomely executed by German troops in summer 1942. It’s a sad piece, and seems to underscore the problems I mentioned before (Ina, sent in mission together with Masha, barely escaped the same fate). The last, "The Secret Of Zoya Zuglova”, tells us of a girl who did spywork for the Soviet “socialising” with German officers, just to be tortured and executed when caught.
Prof. Cottam’s translation is impeccable, as impeccable are the notes punctuating and explaining the text, giving us the correct historical perspective to evaluate a book that is, without doubt, an exceptional document on the history of partisan warfare on the Eastern Front.
Defending Leningrad: Women Behind Enemy Lines.......2001-06-08
K. J. Cottam's books are invaluable. This topic has been so neglected by historians in the West, and Cottam's books have done much to rectify the situation. They are a must read.
Should be Required Reading.......2000-05-14
"Defending Leningrad", formerly published as "The Girl from Kashin", ought to be required reading for Holocaust History, right alongside "Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl" and "Because of Romek". Ina's journal, and her father's post-humous tribute are extraordinary -- precisely because the Partisans were, in fact, very ordinary Soviet citizens. Ina's diary in her own words is heart-breakingly intimate and a very powerful account of one young Lenigrader's resistance against the blockade.
Women Behind Enemy Lines.......1999-04-21
While I deeply enjoyed all 4 of these books, this was my favorite. We get an in depth look at a young Russian teenager through her own diaries and letters.
This inside look helps to break down social barriers we may have implanted in our minds. It weaves the fabric of this heroic young girl's involvement tin the war, her great pride and honor in being involved in the protection and defense of her country.
The book as a whole tells the story of 2 partisans and 1 spy. But the story of Ina Konstantinova told in her own words through her notes and letters is my favorite part of the book. The other 2 women detailed are inspirations as well: Masha Poryvayeva and Zoya Kruglova-Baiger.
As with all of MS. Cottams books this is a must read for women's studies and just a plain good read for the rest of us. Leslie Blanchard
Editor A Writer's Choice Literary Journal ISSN: 1521-2319 http://members.spree.com/writer/ & The Bear's Den- Spoken Word Poetry http://members.tripod.com/bearpoet icq# 33958401
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The Fatal Lover: Mata Hari and the Myth of Women in Espionage
Julie Wheelwright
Manufacturer: Trafalgar Square
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ASIN: 1855851059 |
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I Was a Communist for the F.B.I: The Unhappy Life and Times of Matt Cvetic
Daniel J. Leab
Manufacturer: Pennsylvania State University Press
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ASIN: 0271020539 |
Book Description
"Based on exhaustive and creative research, this book is balanced, smart, and well written. The book-length Matt Cvetic that Leab paints is no less despicable than the miniatures to which we have become accustomed, but he is much more human and, therefore, more comprehensible than in any previous treatment." — Steve Rosswurm, Lake Forest College
"A fascinating example of the way in which heroes were made during America's scoundrel time. In this well-constructed book, Daniel Leab offers an excellent character study of Matt Cvetic and a useful case study of the Red Scare-Cold War era." — Philip Jenkins, Penn State University, author of The Cold War at Home
Who is Matt Cvetic? Hero? Scoundrel? Mole? The man who loosely provided the inspiration for the B-Grade cult movie I Was a Communist for the FBI had a life that was marred by alcoholism, damaged expectations, and greed.
Cvetic, at the request of the FBI, joined a Pittsburgh branch of the CPUSA in 1943. He became one of many plants in the Party during that decade and gained the nickname "Pennsylvania's most significant mole." However, because of his erratic behavior, the FBI fired him in 1950, at which time he surfaced and suddenly became a celebrity through his testimony before the HUAC hearing. Journalist Richard Rovere described Cvetic as a "kept witness," a term that fits those who "made a business of being witnesses," thereby "befouling due process."
Cvetic was the subject of a multipart series in the Saturday Evening Post. The articles bordered on fiction, but they gave Cvetic the national exposure he needed to secure a screen deal. Warner Brothers bought the story, made the movie, and enhanced Cvetic's celebrity as pop icon. In the mid-1950s, Cvetic was discredited as a witness by the courts. His career ended and he found a new niche on the Radical Right, yet he died in 1962 after years of fighting to uphold his image with the media. Today Cvetic's image is dimly remembered as he continues to fight "the Red Menace" on late-night television.
Leab juxtaposes Cvetic's real life with his reel life. He chronicles his fall from grace, yet admits that Cvetic's life offers fascinating and useful insights into the creation, merchandising, and distribution of a reckless professional witness. Leab also writes about Cvetic's life prior to his involvement with the FBI, his glory days, and shows that there is much to be learned from the story of an "anti-Communist icon."
"A compelling account of the grubby life behind the gleaming mask of the Communist-hunter Matt Cvetic. The maze of hysteria, opportunism, and deceit that made up Cold War America is freshly illuminated by Leab's study of Cvetic's career. This book stands as an eloquent testimony of the depths to which America sank in the 1950s and is a timely reminder of the dangers of the media culture of celebrity." —Nick Cull, University of Leicester
"Meticulously researched, scrupulously fair-minded, and consistently enlightening, Dan Leab's study of the strange and fascinating career of Matt Cvetic-communist for the FBI and professional anti-communist thereafter-is an invaluable contribution to American history. Drawing on newly available research materials and his own unmatched expertise in the culture of Cold War America, Leab paints a vivid portrait of a troubled man within the context of his no less troubling times." —Thomas Doherty, Brandeis University
Customer Reviews:
Seeing Red.......2001-06-22
"I Was a Communist for the FBI" is the story of Matt Cvetic, a man the FBI planted in the CPUSA from 1943-50 and about whom a B movie and bad radio serial were later made, both with the same name as the book. Apparently, Cvetic didn't really have many real stories to tell about the American communists he had met, so he started making them up. He got away with this for three or four years but, always a drinker, his habit got heavier and finally ruined him. It seems that Hoover didn't care much if his stories were fictional, but he couldn't bare having an obvious drunk running around bragging about working for the FBI.
The book is indeed meticulously researched and Leab tells the story very even-handedly. He takes pains to point out that the communists Cvetic rooted out really were communists, and their penchant for secrecy only served to help people like Cvetic paint them as evil people. This book is not for everyone, though. If you like American history and read lots of it, it will be a valuable addition to your collection. But if you only read history occasionally, and then only popular works, you may find this one heavy going as it is not organized to titillate or tell a story in the Hollywood fashion. So I drop a star to warn those who belong to the latter group.
Book Description
Top Secret is definitely not the right word for the International Spy Museum—its launch in 2002 made news and it has been high-profile ever since, with attendance growing by leaps and bounds. The International Spy Museum Handbook of Practical Spying has already been declassified to the delight of those in the need-to-know. Now, following up on that success, here's an illustrated biographical who's who of spydom from biblical days to recent times. I Lie for a Living is a regular rogue's gallery of history's most accomplished intriguers and intelligence operatives, famous and infamous alike.
It's amazing how colorful some of these characters are, like 16th century playwright, brawler and secret agent Christopher Marlow or Virginia Hall and Josephine Baker, femmes fatales both. Organized into ten thematic chapters, this light-hearted but clear-eyed look at lone-wolf moles, double agents, and intricate triple-crosses unmasks a wide-ranging roster from covert patriots whose unheralded heroism sometimes cost them their lives to mercenary traitors for sale to the highest bidder, like Benedict Arnold or Aldrich Ames.
It's a for-your-eyes-only kind of book, so beware—if you don't watch your back it's a sure bet someone will be reading it over your shoulder.
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Super Spies of World War I (Spies and Spying)
Kate Walker , and
Elaine Argaet
Manufacturer: Smart Apple Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1583403396 |
Book Description
Iris is only 15 when her parents are suddenly and violently hauled away from their country estate by her father's enemy, the Duke of Northumberland. Forced to flee the only home she has ever known, Iris is hidden by her father's friends and allies, who soon have the sad task of informing her that her parents are dead. Despondent, and wanting revenge, Iris agrees to be trained as a spy by the duke's foes, and then work undercover as a lowly kitchen maid. A meeting with the young princess Elizabeth changes Iris's life completely. Because of their resemblance to each other, Elizabeth invites Iris to join her court, where she mingles with lords and ladies and bravely consents to pose as Elizabeth in a desperate ploy to save the princess's life. This vivid historical novel from the author of Behind the Mask: The Life of Queen Elizabeth I plunges readers into the treacherous world of the English court. An unusual coming-of-age tale featuring a strong, active heroine, The Counterfeit Princess will appeal to princess fans everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
History brought to life.......2006-04-30
The world of pre-Elizabethan England is vivid and engaging in this tale of one girl caught up in life-and-death circumstances created by power struggles she'd known little of before. Though captive to the dire situation in which she finds herself, Iris's sense of agency keeps her from succumbing to the forces that would seek to destroy her or simply use her as a decoy. She is cunning, smart and appealing and I was compelled to keep turning the page, as I cared about her fate. A highly enjoyable way to learn more about England's somewhat confusing royal history.
Girl as spy.......2005-11-27
I loved this fast-paced tale of a young girl in just-pre-Elizabethan England. From the moment this book starts, danger and intrigue follow Iris, daughter of a nobleman who is caught up in the power struggles to gain the throne of England. Reluctantly recruited to portray the Princess Elizabeth so the princess may remain safe, Iris is pulled into the court and finds the life distasteful. She wants to be at home with the people on her parents' estate, living life in the country, and instead she must risk her life for a young woman who is destined to be the Queen of England. Grounded in history, with plenty of action and humor and a touch of romance, this is a terrific choice for the tween girls in your life.
Books:
- Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?
- Inferno
- Jesus of Nazareth
- Lessons from the Legends of Wall Street : How Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Phil Fisher, T. Rowe Price, and John Templeton Can Help You Grow Rich
- Liberators from Wendling: The Combat Story of the 392nd Bombardment Group (H) of the Eighth Air Force During World War Two
- Lies My Teacher Told Me
- Making the Voyageur World: Travelers and Traders in the North American Fur Trade (France Overseas: Studies in Empire and D)
- Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War
- Military Innovation In The Interwar Period
- Monstrous American Car Spotter's Guide 1920-1980/110383Ap
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