Potent memoir demonstrates the dangers of collecting and dispersing
news from behind the Iron Curtain. The book is dedicated to slain
journalist Anna Politkovskaya and "the other Russian and Soviet
journalists who died under mysterious circumstances after the
collapse of the Soviet Union."Daniloff (Journalism/Northeastern
Univ.; Two Lives, One Russia, 1988, etc.) began his career as a
copy boy for the Washington Post in 1956. Following a brief trip to
Moscow in 1959 and stints working in London, Paris and Geneva, the
author followed his father's Russian bloodline and headed back to
the country to work as a junior UPI correspondent in 1961. Early
on, his expectations about the Soviet Union were debunked by the
bureau chief, Henry Shapiro. With an exacting eye for detail and a
flair for storytelling that captures the uneasy mood of the times,
Daniloff provides captivating anecdotes about his days in Moscow -
and many surprises. For example, he recalls the unusually pleasant
living conditions, with chauffeurs and imported foods available at
the drop of a hat. He also reveals more familiar details about
strict censorship, how many contacts were not to be trusted and how
important conversations were often conducted outside, away from
potential bugs. The author also offers a unique perspective on many
key events of the times - including Kennedy's assassination
(Daniloff's bureau filed a story about Lee Harvey Oswald's time in
Russia not long before he traveled to Dallas) and the space race -
all told in front of a vivid backdrop of fear and paranoia.
Recollections of Daniloff's career outside the Soviet Union, such
as his stint as a foreign-affairs correspondent on Capitol Hill in
the mid '70s, prove less interesting, but he doesn't linger too
long on these sections. The book reaches a natural conclusion with
a reprinted interview from U.S. News & World Report, in which
Daniloff muses on how life has changed in the Soviet Union during
the 20-year period since he first traveled there, and a chapter
that details the chase for information during the Chernobyl
disaster.An astute, absorbing account. (Kirkus Reviews)
An American reporter of Russian heritage assigned to Soviet-era
Moscow might seem to have an edge on his colleagues, but when he's
falsely accused of spying, any advantage quickly evaporates...As a
young UPI correspondent in Moscow during the early 1960s, Nicholas
Daniloff hoped to jump-start his career in his father's homeland,
but he soon learned that the Cold War had its own rules of
engagement. In this riveting memoir, he describes the reality of
journalism behind the Iron Curtain: how Western reporters banded
together to thwart Soviet propagandists, how their "official
sources" were almost always controlled by the KGB - and how those
sources would sometimes try to turn newsmen into
collaborators.Leaving Moscow for Washington in 1965, Daniloff honed
his skills at the State Department, then returned to Moscow in 1981
to find a more open society. But when the FBI nabbed a Soviet agent
in 1986, Daniloff was arrested in retaliation and thrown into
prison as a spy - an incident that threatened to undo the Reykjavik
summit until top aides to Reagan and Gorbachev worked out a
solution.In addition to recounting a career in the thick of
international intrigue, ""Of Spies and Spokesmen"" is brimming with
inside information about historic events. Daniloff tells how the
news media played a crucial role in resolving the Cuban Missile
Crisis, recalls the emotional impact of the JFK assassination on
Soviet leadership, and describes the behind-the-scenes struggles
that catapulted Mikhail Gorbachev to power. He even shares facts
not told to the public: how the SAC would warn Moscow that its
submarines were too close to American shores, why the Soviets shot
down the KAL airliner without visual identification, and how
American reporters in Moscow sometimes did dangerous favors for our
government that could easily have been mistaken for
espionage.Daniloff sheds light not only on prominent figures such
as Nikita Khrushchev and Henry Kissinger but also on suspected
spies Frederick Barghoorn, John Downey, and ABC correspondent Sam
Jaffe - unfairly branded a Soviet agent by the FBI. In addition, he
assesses the performance of Henry Shapiro, dean of American
journalists in Moscow, whose forty years in the adversary's capital
often provoke questions about his role and reputation.In describing
how the Western press functioned in the old Soviet Union - and how
it still functions in Washington today - Daniloff shows that the
Soviet Russia he came to know was far more complex than the ""evil
empire"" painted by Ronald Reagan: a web of propaganda and
manipulation, to be sure, but also a place of hospitality and
friendship. And with Russia still finding its way toward a new
social and political order, he reminds us that seventy years of
Communist rule left a deep impression on its national psyche. As
readable as it is eye-opening, "Of Spies and Spokesmen" provides a
new look at that country's heritage - and at the practice of
journalism in times of crisis.
General
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