Nikolai Khokhlov was a Soviet war hero and agent selected for a dangerous mission: kill a Russian dissident in Frankfurt, West Germany. Khokhlov went to Frankfurt as ordered, but his actions there shocked his superiors in Moscow, and opened a new chapter in the Cold War.
The question I am asked most frequently is what books I recommend for further reading on the topics I write about. There are a trove of fascinating true tales of espionage out there, and I want to share with you seven more books that are sure to hold your interest and take you down new paths.
A James Bond film wouldn’t be complete without a flashy sports car loaded with hidden weapons and gadgets. Although the real world of spycraft features very few high-speed car chases, there’s no question that espionage occasionally requires unique forms of transportation.
Arguably the most famous Russian assassination-by-poisoning occurred on November 1st 2006, when Alexander Litvinenko, a former member of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) suddenly fell ill after a meeting in London with some of his old comrades.
Some incredibly creative weapons and gadgets have come out of research laboratories and been placed in the hands of spies, saboteurs, and guerillas all over the world. Here is a sampling of ten of the most unique weapons from the world of spycraft.
On September 7th, 1978, Georgi Markov was walking along a crowded sidewalk on the Waterloo Bridge over the River Thames. Suddenly feeling a sharp pain in his right thigh, he turned to see a man picking up an umbrella off the sidewalk. A taxi pulled up beside the stranger, who entered it and immediately departed the area.