EMPIRE OF FEAR

by Vladimir & Evdokia Petrov ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 29, 1956

While the escape of the Petrovs from the grip of the ""empire of fear"" that is Soviet Russia today lacked some of the mystery of the Burgess-Maclean drama, it too was a signal achievement, the end of which may not yet be told. This is a joint autobiography, and stems back to two childhoods, two periods of youth under Soviet tutelage, and a linking of careers in NKVD. Oddly enough, at no point does the reader feel either their complete acceptance of the Soviet philosophy, or- with escape to the asylum of Australia- of a philosophy in opposition. The first was a matter of knowing nothing else, growing up in it, following the pattern laid down, and doing a competent job... The second was escape from fear, from conviction that the future held nothing, from disillusion rather than to conviction. For the greater part of their service to their state, the Petrovs were lucky. They were neither early Bolshevists and therefore suspect, nor did they wield enough power to be objects of envy. Mr. Petrov filled a post in what was then OGPU; was transferred to Sweden in a Security assignment, the object in part to act as a listening post within the Embassy; then he came back to Moscow-and- as the plot reached its climax, became third secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Canberra and head of the Soviet espionage organization. Only then did he come under the criticism of the chief- the Ambassador; only then did he feel- for himself- the touch of the fear he had often used as a weapon. His wife filled key secretarial posts in each place of his assignment. They both were on the periphery during successive purges -- in Moscow, in Singkiang Province; both knew too much to have survived once the ax fell. This is an authentic inside story of what makes Communists act as they do.

Pub Date: Jan. 29, 1956

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Praeger

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1956

Categories: NONFICTION