Sleeper agent : the atomic spy in America who got away / by Ann Hagedorn.
Material type: TextPublisher: New York : Simon & Schuster, 2021Copyright date: ©2021Edition: First Simon & Schuster hardcover editionDescription: x, 259 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cmContent type:- text
- still image
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781501173943
- 1501173944
- 9781501173950
- 1501173952
- Atomic spy in America who got away
- Kovalʹ, Zhorzh Abramovich, 1913-2006
- Spies -- Soviet Union -- Biography
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Secret service -- Soviet Union
- Manhattan Project (U.S.)
- Espionage, Soviet -- United States -- History -- 20th century
- Nuclear weapons -- History -- 20th century
- Chemists -- Soviet Union -- Biography
- United States. Army. Special Engineer Detachment, 9812th -- Biography
- Russian Americans -- Biography
Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book | Dr. James Carlson Library | Biography | KOVAL, Z. H141 | Available | 33111009787793 | ||||
Adult Book | Main Library | Biography | KOVAL, Z. H141 | Available | 33111010512982 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Nominated for an Edgar Award
This "historical page-turner of the highest order " ( The Wall Street Journal ) tells the chilling story of an American-born Soviet spy in the atom bomb project in World War II, perfect for fans of The Americans .
George Koval was born in Iowa. In 1932, his parents, Russian Jews who had emigrated because of anti-Semitism, decided to return home to live out their socialist ideals. George, who was as committed to socialism as they were, went with them. There, he was recruited by the Soviet Army as a spy and returned to the US in 1940. A gifted science student, he enrolled at Columbia University, where he knew scientists soon to join the Manhattan Project, America's atom bomb program. After being drafted into the US Army, George used his scientific background and connections to secure an assignment at a site where plutonium and uranium were produced to fuel the atom bomb. There, and later in a second top-secret location, he had full access to all facilities, and he passed highly sensitive information to Moscow.
There were hundreds of spies in the US during World War II, but Koval was the only Soviet military spy with security clearances in the atomic-bomb project. The ultimate sleeper agent, he was an all-American boy who had played baseball, loved Walt Whitman's poetry, and mingled freely with fellow Americans. After the war he got away without a scratch. It is indisputable that his information landed in the right hands in Moscow. In 1949, Soviet scientists produced a bomb identical to America's years earlier than US experts expected.
A gripping, fast-paced, and "fascinating" (Bob Shacochis, National Book Award-winning author of The Woman Who Lost Her Soul ) story about one undetected spy whose actions influenced history, Sleeper Agent is perfect for Ben Macintyre fans.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-252) and index.
Prologue -- Part I: The lure. The dream on Virginia Street ; "Nothing but the truth" ; The arrest -- Part II: The deception. "The business trip" ; Undercover in the Bronx ; General chemistry ; Lies and ties ; The man in the Jeep ; The playhouse secret ; Spycraft ; Defections and detections ; The joiner ; The escape -- Part III: The hunt. Sovershenno sekretno (top secret) ; Postcards from Paris ; The March 1953 letters ; Exposed -- Epilogue.
"The little-known story of a spy on the atom-bomb project in World War II who had top security clearance--American born, Soviet trained, he was never even suspected until after his information was in Soviet hands and he was safe in the USSR. It's LeCarre and "The Americans" for real"-- Provided by publisher.
In 1932 George Koval's parents, Russian Jews who had emigrated because of anti-Semitism, decided to return home to live out their socialist ideals. There he was recruited by the Soviet Army as a spy and returned to the US in 1940. At Columbia University Koval knew scientists soon to join the Manhattan Project, America's atom bomb program; in the U.S. Army Koval used his scientific background and connections to secure an assignment at a site where plutonium and uranium were produced to fuel the atom bomb. There were hundreds of spies in the US during World War II but Koval was the only Soviet military spy with security clearances in the atomic-bomb project. Hagedorn tells the story of Koval, who in 2007 was posthumously awarded Russia's highest civilian honor for his contributions to the Soviet atomic bomb program. -- adapted from jacket