Synopsis
For 17 years, the Soviets knew every military move we made! That is how damaging the Walker family spy ring was to our national security. For the better part of two decades, John Walker, his son Michael, brother Arthur, and friend Jerry Whitworth comprised the KGB's greatest asset. Meticulously detailing the FBI investigation which finally broke the case, John Barron reveals how close the United States came to disaster - and how the repercussions may linger for decades.
Publishers Weekly
Newspaper readers are familiar with the Walker spy case that made news in 1985, but perhaps few realize the enormous consequences of the family's treason, which are reported here. Barron, a Reader's Digest editor and author of two studies of the KGB, demonstrates how John Walker, a retired naval warrant officer who worked as a private investigator, influenced his brother Arthur, a retired submarine officer, his own son Michael, a navy enlisted man with access to top-secret documents, and Jerry Whitworth, a former student of John's who worked with navy cryptographic systems, to transmit vital information to the Soviets. For 17 years the ring furnished secrets, including technical manuals and keys for U.S. cipher systems that provided insights into the logic behind American cryptography. The repercussions of this, shows Barron, may be with us for decades. An informative book and a page-turner. (March 23)