Deadly Illusions: The KGB Orlov Dossier Reveals Stalin's Master Spy

Soviet master spy Alexander Orlov (1895-1973), who defected to the U.S. in 1952 to denounce Stalin's crimes, was eulogized in the U.S. Senate for helping America fight the Cold War. But this astonishing report--an unprecedented collaboration between British historian Costello and former KGB officer Tsarev, press consultant to the Russian Intelligence Service--persuasively argues that Orlov played a game of wits with the CIA and FBI, feeding them half-truths and trivialities while concealing the identities of former colleagues and Soviet agents he had recruited. Using a trove of declassified Russian intelligence files and FBI and CIA documents, the authors establish that Orlov masterminded the notorious Cambridge spy ring and the recruitment of British moles Kim Philby, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean. They also reveal that KGB agents held secret meetings with Orlov in 1969 and 1971, inviting him to return to Moscow as a hero. This newsworthy book reads like a spy thriller. Photos. (May)