David E. Hoffman is a contributing editor at The Washington Post and a correspondent for PBS’s flagship investigative series, Frontline. He is the author of The Oligarchs and of The Dead Hand, about the end of the Cold War arms race, and winner of a Pulitzer Prize. He lives with his wife in Maryland.
Praise for David E. Hoffman’s The Billion Dollar Spy
“The Billion Dollar Spy is one of the best spy stories to come
out of the Cold War and all the more riveting . . . for being true.
It hits the sweet spot between page-turning thriller and solidly
researched history (even the footnotes are informative) and then
becomes something more, a shrewd character study of spies and the
spies who run them, the mixed motives, the risks. . . . This is a
terrific book.” —Washington Post
“A true-life tale so gripping at times it reads like spy fiction.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Engrossing. . . . Mr. Hoffman’s book particularly shines in
cinematic accounts of . . . anxious encounters.” —The New York
Times
“A rare look at the dangerous, intricately choreographed tradecraft
behind old-school intelligence gathering. . . . What [Hoffman]’s
accomplished here isn’t just a remarkable example of journalistic
talent but also an ability to weave an absolutely gripping
nonfiction narrative.” —The Dallas Morning News
“This riveting drama. . . . packs valuable insights into the final
decade of the cloak-and-dagger rivalry between the United States
and the former Soviet Union. . . . A must-read for historians and
buffs of that era, as well as aficionados of espionage.” —The
Christian Science Monitor
“Hoffman excels at conveying both the tradecraft and the human
vulnerabilities involved in spying.” —The New Yorker
“Gripping and nerve-wracking. . . . Human tension hangs
over every page of The Billion Dollar Spy like
the smell of leaded gasoline. . . . [Hoffman] knows the
intelligence world well and has expertly used recently declassified
documents to tell this unsettling and suspenseful story. . .
. The Billion Dollar Spy reads like the most taut
and suspenseful parts of Tinker Tailor Soldier
Spy or Smiley’s People. It’s worth the clenched jaw and
upset stomach it creates.” —USA Today
“Suspenseful. . . . Hoffman is a scrupulous, meticulous writer
whose pages of footnotes and references attest to how carefully he
sticks to his sources. . . . His book’s value is in its true-life
adventure story and the window it offers into a once-closed world.”
—The Columbus Dispatch
“Hoffman viscerally evokes the secret, ruthless Cold War battle
between the American Central Intelligence Agency and the Soviet KGB
in his true-life espionage thriller. . . . An exciting, revealing
tale with a courageous, sympathetic protagonist.” —Tampa Bay
Times
“The fine first sentence of The Billion Dollar Spy could
almost have been written with an icicle. A work of painstaking
historical research that’s paced like a thriller.” —Departures
“Hoffman [proves] that nonfiction can read like a John le Carré
thriller. . . . This real-life tale of espionage will hook readers
from the get-go.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Fascinating. . . . Hoffman’s revealing of [Adolf Tolkachev] as a
person and a spy is brilliantly done, making this mesmerizing true
story scary and thrilling.” —Booklist (starred review)
“Hoffman ably navigates the many strands of this complex espionage
story. An intricate, mesmerizing portrayal of the KGB-CIA spy
culture. . . . A thoroughly researched excavation of an
astoundingly important (and sadly sacrificed) spy for the CIA.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A fabulous read that also provides chilling insights into the Cold
War spy game between Washington and Moscow that has erupted anew
under Vladimir Putin. . . . It is also an evocative portrait of
everyday life in the crumbling Soviet Union and a meticulously
researched guide to CIA sources and methods. I devoured every word,
including the footnotes.” —Michael Dobbs, author of One Minute
to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of
Nuclear War
“One of the best real-life spy stories ever told. This is a
breakthrough book in intelligence writing, drawing on CIA
operational cables—the holy grail of the spy world—to narrate each
astonishing move. Hoffman reveals CIA tradecraft tricks that are
more delicious than anything in a spy novel, and his command of the
Soviet landscape is masterful. Full of twists so amazing you
couldn’t make them up, this is spy fact that really is better than
fiction.” —David Ignatius, author of The Director
“The Billion Dollar Spy reads like the very best spy fiction
yet is meticulously drawn from real life. It is a gripping story of
courage, professionalism, and betrayal in the secret
world.” —Rodric Braithwaite, British Ambassador in Moscow,
1988-1992
“A scrupulously researched work of history that is also a gripping
thriller, The Billion Dollar Spy by David E. Hoffman is
an unforgettable journey into Cold War espionage. This spellbinding
story pulses with the dramatic tension of running an agent in
Soviet-era Moscow—where the KGB is ubiquitous and CIA officers and
Russian assets are prey. I was enthralled.” —Peter Finn,
co-author of The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the
Battle Over a Forbidden Book
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