Major Acid's E-Rag
What Else Is There?
Volume 1, Number 4
Spy Stories
“It is not obligatory to be a perfect marksman or a sprinter. It is
necessary to be wiser than the enemy, a charming person, and to love the
motherland.” Those are the words of Dmitri Yakushkin, a Russian
spymaster who earned the nickname “the Gray Cardinal”, not from his
opponents, but from his own KGB operatives. The nickname ties Yakushkin
to one of his historical predecessors, the infamous Cardinal Richelieu.
Both Richelieu and Yakuskin get brief profiles in “Spy Stories”, a
special edition of “U.S. News and World Report.” With only some 85 pages
to play with, this one-off magazine is not in any way an in-depth study
of all things spook, but its range is broad, jumping from the tediously
well-known to some lesser-known and far more interesting spy world
tidbits. Overall, it provides some light, summertime reading.
The well-known stories include the D-Day deception, in which a double
agent’s information helped convince the Germans that the fateful
invasion of France would happen at Pas de Calais rather than Normandy.
Another tired tale is that of Enigma, the WW II German code machine
cracked by Alan Turing and friends. Then there is Kim Philby, who
perfectly reflected Yakushkin’s commentary on what it takes to be a spy.
Bright, charming and dedicated to communist ideals, Philby operated for
decades before escaping to Russia.
Unlike Philby, though, Yakushkin didn’t drink himself to death in
enforced retirement. He simply retired and enjoyed the wealth his years
of service and power had given him until age did him in. Others in the
spy game weren’t so lucky, like Raoul Wallenberg.
Wallenberg, well-known as a saviour of Jews in WW II, also dabbled in
the intelligence business it seems. Ultimately, he disappeared into
mother Russia’s not-so-maternal clutches, and although the date and
manner of his death remain unclear, his fate itself is not.
Russian’s, too, paid the ultimate price, among them the not so well
known Richard Sorge. Sorge’s information gathering skills in the orient
enabled Russia to make crucial strategic decisions that helped them
prevail against German invaders. For his efforts, Jorge was captured by
the Japanese and executed. More would have been welcome with this story,
but though the article notes that Jorge was held for about three years
before being executed, no details are given.
Spying, of course, didn’t begin and end with WW II. As long as the
interests of power needed serving, spies have found gainful employment.
From Hammurabi to Queen Elizabeth 1, from the balance of powers in
imperial Europe to the cold war balancing act, spies have had a long,
dark lineage, on that continues today.
Most of the longer “Spy Stories” articles aren’t historical, however.
Instead they look at contemporary concerns such as corporate espionage
and today’s high tech, post 9-11 spy world. Still, since so little
detailed knowledge is to be had about contemporary spookdom (think about
it) there is an historical bias to the magazine, including its 10 page
book excerpt. The excerpt is taken from “The Main Enemy”,
“The Main Enemy”, KGB speak for the United States, is written by a
real-life former American spook, Milt Bearden, and a spook news
columnist, James Risen. The book is an insider’s view of the shadowy
world of duplicity, violence and death that underpinned the Cold War,
and the excerpt looks at a Russian agent, Vitaly Yurchenko, who defected
and then, apparently unhappy, undefected. So to spook.
There are other tidbits in “Spy Stories”, from spy weaponry (including
the infamous Bulgarian umbrella) to a short compilation of some
unexpected human assets. For all his literary bravado, Hemingway came a
bust as an agent while others, including the lady with the limp and the
compellingly curious baseball player Moe Berg, who had his own license
to kill, had more success.
Ultimately, “Spy Stories” makes a useful summertime diversion, at least
on one of those depressing days when cloud and rain turn the world gray
and chase us inside. Pause, though, when you’ve finished, and think of
the brightest, most charming person you know and ask yourself if he, or
she, might reflect the words of the gray Cardinal for some reason other
than simple coincidence.
“Spy Stories” is published by U.S. News and World Report Inc. and sells
for $6.99 CDN.
