A Time For Spies

In this enlightening new book, former FBI Special Agent William E. Duff offers a gripping portrait of Theodore Stephanovich Mally and the historical and psychological factors that influenced and motivated him. By examining this instrumental yet largely ignored figure, Duff provides a unique glimpse into the rapidly evolving world of prewar Soviet intelligence, its people, and its tradecraft.

Library Journal

As the Soviet Union as a political entity has receded into the background, a host of works has appeared examining its intelligence activities prior to and during the Cold War. Duff, a retired FBI agent who specialized in Soviet and Soviet-bloc espionage, has written an intriguing book about the Soviet agent who recruited and trained Kim Philby and his fellow moles in Great Britain during the early 1930s. The "Great Illegals" were individuals who lived in countries not their own and served the Soviet Comintern as skilled and dedicated spymasters. Although at times overly detailed in his presentation, Duff provides the reader with a sophisticated analysis of Theodore Stephanovich Mally and his work as an undercover agent for Stalin. Eventually, Mally ran afoul of the Stalinist regime and was killed in the notorious Lubyanka Prison in 1938, but not before he had established a vibrant network of spies in Great Britain. For academic collections.--Edward Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

William E. Duff is a retired special agent of the FBI who served in the Bureau's foreign counterintelligence department, where he specialized in investigating Soviet and Soviet-bloc espionage.