Stalin's Secret Agents

February 25, 2013
Relying on research conducted after the fall of the U.S.S.R., Evans and Romerstein reveal the degree to which Soviet agents infiltrated the U.S. government after World War II. The authors also expose other approaches to espionage. With his deep, slightly raspy, and deliberate voice, Alan Sklar creates a dark, foreboding atmosphere that enhances the authors’ text. His narration is well paced and compelling, even during the detail-heavy passages. Sklar successfully pronounces foreign terms and delivers a consistent, entertaining performance. The prose and narration blend seamlessly together to maintain listener attention until the very end. A Threshold Editions hardcover.

August 13, 2012
This latest effort by conservatives to discredit FDR and his administration accuses many in the Roosevelt administration—including FDR’s closest adviser, Harry Hopkins—of acting in Soviet interests. The authors say that the bombing of Pearl Harbor, for instance, was partly the result of pro-Soviet American diplomats aiding Stalin in deflecting a Japanese attack on the U.S.S.R. Former Indianapolis News editor Evans (Blacklisted by History) and former federal and congressional intelligence adviser Romerstein (The Venona Secrets) blame the Soviet infiltration of the federal government in part on an ailing and unfocused FDR. At Yalta, they say, reputed Soviet agent Alger Hiss persuaded the president to make inordinate concessions to Stalin. Even Eleanor Roosevelt, say the authors, was “at the top” of “pro-Red policy influences.” Instead of political and military expedience, the authors see Soviet sympathy, as in Harry Hopkins’s efforts to keep Stalin in the WWII alliance. The authors present a controversial case that is undermined by source material that even they admit is “fragmentary and episodic.” Agent: Alexander Hoyt, Alexander Hoyt Assoc.