Why did I love this book?
I operated as a KGB illegal agent in the US for ten years. This book is about George Koval, who served as a KGB illegal for 8 years.
His background made him an ideal candidate for the KGB. He was born in the US to Russian parents. The family returned to the Soviet Union, where George studied economics and was recruited by the KGB.
In 1940, he went back to the US and lived under his American birth name. He wound up working for the Manhattan Project, the huge team that developed the nuclear bomb. He spent four years stealing secrets and sending them to Moscow. He returned to the USSR in 1948 and never got recognition for his work.
This story is just as bizarre as mine.
2 authors picked Sleeper Agent as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
The dramatic and 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. It was there that 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…