The Sword and the Shield - by Christopher Andrew & Vasili Mitrokhin (Paperback)

About the Book

Ace historian Christopher Andrew delivers what may well be the intelligence book of the century. Including smuggled files from the foreign intelligence archives of the KGB, this treasure trove proves that there was indeed an enemy--and that he was very much in our midst. 40 halftones.

Book Synopsis

Based on astonishing KGB documents, this essential exposé uncovers the shadowy operations of the Soviet Union's top intelligence organization.

"The Sword and the Shield will stand as an indispensable reference work on Soviet espionage for years to come." ―Washington Post

Based on an unprecedented, top-secret archive described by the FBI as "the most complete and extensive intelligence ever achieved from any source," The Sword and the Shield gives us by far the most complete picture we have ever had of the KGB and its operations in the United States and Europe.

Vasili Mitrokhin worked for almost thirty years in the foreign intelligence archives of the KGB. In 1972 he was made responsible for moving these entire archives, including all the files on the KGB's deep-cover operatives, to new headquarters just outside Moscow. Mitrokhin spent over a decade making notes and transcripts of these highly classified files which he smuggled daily out of the archives and kept beneath his dacha floor. Christopher Andrew has had exclusive access to both Mitrokhin and his archive. Supplementing this treasure trove of KGB secrets with extensive research in other archives, and published and unpublished sources, he has written an extraordinary book which forces us to acknowledge that there was indeed an enemy--and that he was very much in our midst.

Review Quotes

"A sweeping, densely documented history of the KGB ... Thanks to Comrade Mitrokhin, the KGB and most of those who spied for it have been stripped naked."--New York Times Book Review

"Stranger than fiction ... Afficionados of espionage will be rummaging through this enormously detailed book for years."--New Republic

"The most important book ever written on the subject ... A monumental volume."--Washington Times

"This book is astounding ... Every page brims with the plots for a dozen movies and Robert Ludlum thrillers. Thanks to what they have done, no history of the last half of the Cold War can be written the same way again."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

A New York Times Bestseller

"The Sword and the Shield will stand as an indispensable reference work on Soviet espionage for years to come."--Washington Post

"Deliciously erudite."--New York Times

About the Author

Christopher Andrew is the creator of the Cambridge Intelligence Seminar, emeritus professor at the University of Cambridge, former president of Corpus Christi College, former official historian of the Secret Service, and former chair of the British Intelligence Study Group. Andrew is the author of several books, including Defend the Realm, The World Was Going Our Way, and For the President's Eyes Only. He lives in Cambridge, England.