THE KGB: The Eyes of Russia

A sketchily documented survey of KGB operations and procedures since the Thirties, by a onetime OSS and CIA official and sometime author (most recently, The CIA's Secret Operations, 1977). Accounts of well-known cases-Victor Sorge, the Rosenbergs, Kim Philby--are generally accurate and fair; others, less thoroughly publicized--like the Lonsdale and ""Georgie"" cases--are difficult to evaluate on the basis of the vague footnotes provided. And when Rositzke says that 75 percent of Soviet agents in the US are in Manhattan, the figure seems dubious at best. His decription of the organization and techniques of the KGB is perfectly plausible, on the other hand, just because it applies equally well to all agencies in the same line of work. Overall, Rositzke credits the KGB with determination and efficiency--noting with some asperity that unlike the CIA, it is ""not limited by a charter."" Hardly ""the first of its kind,"" as claimed, and in no wise revelatory, but adequate for a grounding.