INCIDENT AT BORIS GLEB

by DeWitt S. Copp ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 26, 1967

In October 1965, a young American from Sheffield, Mass., college text salesman for D. Van Nostrand, died under mysterious circumstances in Soviet hands. He had been held for several months following seizure at Boris Gleb, a Russian outpost near Kirkenes, Norway. He was accused of illegal entry into the Soviet Union. Newcomb Mott is characterized here as an open and trusting and sincere person. This trust and an eagerness for experience (to stamp his passport, to bring back souvenirs) led him to approach Boris Gleb without visa and against advice; he lost his way and did not come by the usual route. The book recounts his capture, captivity and questioning, the efforts of William Shinn of the Embassy to help him, that of family and influential friends, political figures. Mott was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to a year-and-a-half in a labor camp. In October his body was produced in evidence of suicide, more than reasonably doubted here. There is pain over the reluctance of the U.S. Government to act in Mott's behalf before the tragic denouement. Indeed, it is a thoroughly painful story, thoroughly implicating the Russians; whether a straw in a chillier wind or something more (was Mott a simple citizen?) poses a possible question.

Pub Date: Jan. 26, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1967

Categories: NONFICTION