The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West

Fantastic book covering the beginning of Russian spy work since its beginning in the early 20th Century. Excellent actual history.

Who among us would think the Soviet Union, at its inception, would have crafted and honed a spy program that would send people "indistinguishable from regular folks" to a variety of places around the world to try to wend their way into whatever governmental system they'd been sent to investigate? Yep. At its inception. Going all the way back to Lenin. Of course, most readers would be most concerned about their efforts within the United States. That is exactly where Shawn Walker focuses his writing. Although the spy program only yielded spotty results over the decades, the concept was cunning. It was executed with great precision, even though its results were marginal.The digital age has altered fundamentally the DNA of how spying is conducted across the world today. That said, Walker has prepared a granular and accessible piece describing the persistent efforts that go into "we wanna know what you're really up to" efforts that every group engages in to know "the real goings on" about other groups.Of note: the children of these "spy couples" are an unintended consequence of this program. By that I mean that the children of these couples, raised and educated in the good ol' USofA, have a difficult time meshing their own lived experiences and nurtured patriotism with the values and intentions of their parents. I'd like to see a book that delves into that psychological dissonance.

Bunch of individual stories about Russian agents in deep cover. Other than the acquisition of nuclear knowledge after WWII (which was huge) (not much time on this in book), there isn't much evidence in the book about what these deep agents actually did. After all this spying, Russia is still a fairly backwards country under autocratic leadership.

Boring

Though the book is scholarly and well documented, it reads like a novel. For anyone who has lived through the post-WWII era and was paying attention, much will be both familiar and shocking. Great read.

A splendidly researched and written history of the Russian spies who masquerade as Western citizens and infiltrated the United States and other Soviet, and then Russian, perceived enemies. Intimate details of the training and work of individual agents abound. The chapter on two children of these "illegals" who had to eventually choose whether to live as Russians or Americans was riveting. The stories are all placed in their historical context, including an insightful look into the rise of Putin.

A good book on the history of Russian spies spoiled by the authors Trump Derangement Syndrome. They presents the Russian Facebook plants but not what happened on the other side. Writing like "Trump divisive comments" make this a political book rather than the truthful historical research it reports to research.

This is a wild tale, which was the basis for the FX show, The Americans, starring Kerri Russel and Matthew Rhys. In real life, it's even wilder. Very well written book about the "Americans" or people that Russian planted both here, Canada and other countries to try and become whatever the local nationality was. They were supposed to blend in, extract secret information and then send it to either the Soviet Union or Russia in encrypted version. The psychological stretching and twisting required to pull this off for any length of time sometimes broke people. But it rarely if ever, got information that helped Russia. In any case, it does make for very interesting reading, and comes highly recommended.

Plenty of people love to read crime novels. Others are fans of true crime. Some tastes tend toward the spy thriller genre. But what about a TRUE spy story?THE ILLEGALS, by Journalist Shaun Walker, is the story of Russia’s century long foray into the world of undercover espionage by using “illegals” (undercover agents) around the globe. Designed to blend into societies as disparate as Eastern Germany, Britain, South America, the Middle East – and eventually, The United States, illegal agents were given extensive training in the languages, culture, and habits of the target countries.Walker follows this program from its nascent beginnings during the Bolshevik Revolution, through the first and second world wars, the cold war, and up to and including the expulsion of illegals, Andrey Bezrukov (alias Don Heathfield) and Elena Vavilova (alias Tracey Foley), the couple that was one of the inspirations for the hit TV series, THE AMERICANS.The writing is fresh, the pacing excellent and, as a seasoned journalist, the breadth and quality of Walker’s research is impeccable. And, as he spins the yarn of this audacious decades-long program, a through-line emerges into the Soviet/Russian mindset of paranoia and power that simultaneously holds an unbreakable grip on its leaders, and that most westerners will find hard to understand and appreciate.

This book is a recent addition to the growing literature on illegals. It is consistent with the picture painted by the television series the Americans. This is a very complex topic with much to be said about both the western European and American espionage practices as well as the Russian and eastern European practices, and no one book can do this relationship justice. To do so would require exhaustive discussion of the Soviet Union as well as the nascent democratic and liberation movements of the "Third World." Be that as it may. this is a very readable and worthwhile addition to the corpus of popular literature on this subject..

This book by journalist Shaun Walker tells the story of Russia's use of illegal, deep cover spies as a key enabler of its foreign policy. Moscow is almost unique in how it uses and trains these people. Whereas all countries operate intelligence officers in overseas locations, they are almost always under official cover and acting in some role as a State Department employee, such as a consular officer. Russia also employs these types of spies, who are protected by laws and treaties. But it is unique in also utilizing "illegals," or undeclared spies operating in "non-official cover."Used from the very beginning of the Soviet state's founding, and throughout World War II, primarily to conduct assassinations, such as the operation to murder Leon Trotsky in Mexico. Moscow employed these most heavily during the Cold War. Russia would recruit promising individuals, either from universities or the military. The main attributes they would look for were a strong ability to learn foreign languages, operate independently, and keep their cool in difficult situations. They would send both individuals overseas and develop married couples who would operate as a team. Each situation was different, but largely these operators would eventually be sent overseas, mainly to Europe and North America, and be tasked with either recruiting individuals who had access to classified information or working themselves to develop personas that would grant them personal access to sensitive material.The most famous case in recent years also happened when the purported quality of the trainees was at a low point. In 2010, the FBI arrested 10 Russian illegals, many of whom had been living and operating undetected in America and Canada for decades. Several of these people had children with no connections to Russia - most of these kids didn't find out the truth about their parents until they were arrested.With Vladimir Putin in firm control of Russia and no hint that the US-Russia relationship is going to improve anytime soon, it is safe to assume that Moscow has any number of unknown and so far undetected individuals working and living in the United States right now.

Books are fundamental. I learnt so much from this book.Must read book if you are history buff or love espionage books movies.