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Operation Whisper: The Capture of Soviet Spies Morris and Lona Cohen Hardcover – May 3, 2016

by Barnes Carr (Author)

4.1 257 ratings

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Meet Morris and Lona Cohen, an ordinary-seeming couple living on a teacher’s salary in a nondescript building on the East Side of New York City. On a hot afternoon in the autumn of 1950, a trusted colleague knocked at their door, held up a finger for silence, then began scribbling a note: Go now. Leave the lights on, walk out, don’t look back. Born and raised in the Bronx and recruited to play football at Mississippi State, Morris Cohen fought for the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War and with the U.S. Army in World War II. He and his wife, Lona, were as American as football and fried chicken, but for one detail: they’d spent their entire adult lives stealing American military secrets for the Soviet Union. And not just any military secrets, but a complete working plan of the first atomic bomb, smuggled direct from Los Alamos to their Soviet handler in New York. Their associates Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who accomplished far less, had just been arrested, and the prosecutor wanted the death penalty. Did the Cohens wish to face the same fate? Federal agents were in the neighborhood, knocking on doors, getting close. So get out. Take nothing. Tell no one. In Operation Whisper, Barnes Carr tells the full, true story of the most effective Soviet spy couple in America, a pair who vanished under the FBI’s nose only to turn up posing as rare book dealers in London, where they continued their atomic spying. The Cohens were talented, dedicated, worldly spies―an urbane, jet-set couple loyal to their service and their friends, and very good at their work. Most people they met seemed to think they represented the best of America. The Soviets certainly thought so.

Print length

338 pages
Language

English
Publisher

ForeEdge
Publication date

May 3, 2016
Dimensions

6.25 x 1.2 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

1611688094
ISBN-13

978-1611688092
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“The Cohens were the most effective Soviet spy couple in America, and vanished under the FBI's nose, turning up as rare book dealers in London, where they continued their atomic spying. This is their story.” ― The Intelligencer: Journal of U.S Intelligence Studies

Review

“This book fills in a gap in the annals of Soviet espionage. Clearly, the Cohens contributed much more to the theft of the atomic secret than the Rosenbergs, who were executed. This book was of special interest to me because I got to know Morris and Lona personally while I was in Moscow being prepared by the KGB for undercover work in the United States. The Cohens were absolutely lovely people who were great friends and neighbors. Goes to show you that the old saying ‘Don't judge a book by its cover’ is very true. Those (honestly) nice people served an evil cause. As much as it might pain one to say that, consequently, they were evil themselves, it is the hard truth.” (Jack Barsky, former KGB agent in America and author of Deep Undercover)

“In Operation Whisper, Carr takes us back to the golden age of Soviet spies in America, when the ideology was stark, the tradecraft basic, and the stakes were as high as they come: the Atomic bomb.” (Naveed Jamali, former double agent and coauthor of How to Catch a Russian Spy)

“Barnes Carr’s Operation Whisper reads like a thriller but is also a fact-filled, illuminating, and sometimes surprising study of real-life atomic spies Morris and Lona Cohen. A must for anyone interested in the history of Cold War espionage.” (Richard B. Spence, author of Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly and Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence and the Occult)

“A zesty account, with many new and colorful details . . . Barnes Carr gathers facts and personal effects from widely scattered sources, connects the dots, and constructs a swift narrative that transports the reader through wars, revolutions, and major espionage operations of the twentieth century. An outstanding achievement.” (Gary Kern, author of The Kravchenko Case: One Man’s War on Stalin)

“Illuminating and utterly enthralling. This is the first full biography of Morris and Lona Cohen, the New York couple who became the Soviet Union’s most devastating illegal spies.” (Vin Arthey, author of Abel: The True Story of the Spy They Traded for Gary Powers)

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ ForeEdge; 1st edition (May 3, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 338 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1611688094
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1611688092
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.39 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.2 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,503,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #917 in Espionage True Accounts
- #1,853 in Political Intelligence
- #3,427 in Russian History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.1 257 ratings

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Poopsiedear

Lies, Spys and treason

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2017

Verified Purchase

Spying for Soviet Russia, the Cohen's and many others lived their lives but underneath their persona, stole atomic documents and other pertinent info to help Russia achieve how to make an atomic bomb like the U.S.
Living dangerously and melding into society, these spies achieved their goals but when captured in the end, showed others how to brave their fate.
This book takes you on an exciting adventuresome espionage and harrowing experiences that you hold your breath to see what comes next. This book reads like a James Bond movie.
If you like excitement, this book I recommend.

2 people found this helpful

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Jim in Greenville

Interesting Story!

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2017

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Very interesting book about a relatively successful Russian spying couple. They are really the ones who should have been executed, not the Rosenburgs! There are parts of the book where you may have to persevere, but in general it is well written and a good read if you are interested in this period of history.

One person found this helpful

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waterandtrees

Was hoping it would be a more exciting read (i ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2016

Verified Purchase

Was hoping it would be a more exciting read (i.e. True Believer by Kati Marton). Story is thrilling to be sure, but in this author's hands, I lost interest fairly quickly. I'm going to take another stab at it though and will update review afterward.

7 people found this helpful

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DC users

The Spies You Never Knew

Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2016

Verified Purchase

While most of us with even a passing knowledge of the atomic era know the Rosenbergs, the spy couple who passed a diagram of the cross-section of an atom bomb to the Soviets, fewer of us know about the Cohens, the couple who actually passed the Soviets a compete diagram and description of the bomb in 1945.

It’s not a mystery that we don’t know Morris and Lona Cohen. The Rosenbergs, after all, were tried, convicted, and executed in New York, surrounded by national reporters. The Cohens slipped out of the country before the FBI could arrest them and found their way to London, out of the gaze of most of the American press.

Barnes Carr’s “Operation Whisper” is a needed antidote to the scarcity of information on Morris and Lona Cohen’s recruitment as Soviet agents, Lona’s mission to obtain the atomic secrets, and the gripping tale of their escape from the United States and their eventual conviction of spying on the construction of Britain’s first nuclear submarine.

The author doesn’t leave out the counterespionage forces in London or the FBI agents, who first started the tedious hunt for them in 1939:

“Hit the streets again. Check that building you checked last week, and the week before. Say hello again to the same grumpy old men, suspicious women,, mean dogs. … Day after day, night after night, the agents fulfilled that odd destiny that cops seem to have with doors: unmarked doors, wrong doors, slammed doors. Thank you m’am, give us a call if you hear …”

For history lovers, it’s time travel at its best. Enjoy.

19 people found this helpful

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Upstate NY

A good tale, but...

Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book occupies a place between well-researched history and historical fiction. While the story is based on facts, the degree of detail could only have come from the author's imagination. Also, the writer seemed unable to keep his own political views out of the narrative. All in all, it is a good read but needs to be read with a few grains of salt.

3 people found this helpful

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Atwell I. Suman

Reads like a novel

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2017

Verified Purchase

Reads like a novel, very exciting and hard to put down. I had never heard of the Cohens even though I've read several books about Abel and the Rosenbergs. I still find it fascinating and hard to believe that intelligent Jews would support and spy for the USSR as Stalin was killing and imprisoning them by the millions. It is hard to comprehend.

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2017

Verified Purchase

It clarified many questions I had about this couple. It is a good book

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Paolo Pignatelli

Cold War Espionage in Two Continents

Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2017

Verified Purchase

Morris and Lona Cohen, a gray couple you meet hundreds of times on the streets of London or in New York. They are neither. They were at the center of soviet spy rings that stole nuclear secrets from the US and naval secrets from the UK.
The book transports readers from a humdrum life in pre WWII USA, to civil war in Spain to UK rural life, all connected by an infatuation with communist ideals, followed by their active involvement in the battle for its supremacy. How? By stealing their secrets, naturally!
See something-say something - think "they" don't know?

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