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Concise Histories of Intelligence
The Russian FSB: A Concise History of the Federal Security Service
An introduction to Putin’s formidable intelligence and security organization
Since its founding in 1995, the FSB, Russia’s Federal Security Service, has regained the majority of the domestic security functions of the Soviet-era KGB. Under Vladimir Putin, who served as FSB director just before becoming president, the agency has grown to be one of the most powerful and favored organizations in Russia. The FSB not only conducts internal security but also has primacy in intelligence operations in former Soviet states. Their activities include anti-dissident operations at home and abroad, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, criminal investigations of crimes against the state, and guarding Russia’s borders.
In The Russian FSB, Kevin P. Riehle provides a brief history of the FSB’s origins, placed within the context of Russian history, the government’s power structure, and Russia’s wider culture. He describes how the FSB’s mindset and priorities show continuities from the tsarist regimes and the Soviet era. The book’s chapters analyze origins, organizational structure, missions, leaders, international partners, and cultural representations such as the FSB in film and television.
Based on both English and Russian sources, this book is a well-researched introduction to understanding the FSB and its central role in Putin’s Russia.
Concise Histories of Intelligence SeriesChristopher Moran, Mark Phythian, and Mark Stout, Series Editors
Since its founding in 1995, the FSB, Russia’s Federal Security Service, has regained the majority of the domestic security functions of the Soviet-era KGB. Under Vladimir Putin, who served as FSB director just before becoming president, the agency has grown to be one of the most powerful and favored organizations in Russia. The FSB not only conducts internal security but also has primacy in intelligence operations in former Soviet states. Their activities include anti-dissident operations at home and abroad, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, criminal investigations of crimes against the state, and guarding Russia’s borders.
In The Russian FSB, Kevin P. Riehle provides a brief history of the FSB’s origins, placed within the context of Russian history, the government’s power structure, and Russia’s wider culture. He describes how the FSB’s mindset and priorities show continuities from the tsarist regimes and the Soviet era. The book’s chapters analyze origins, organizational structure, missions, leaders, international partners, and cultural representations such as the FSB in film and television.
Based on both English and Russian sources, this book is a well-researched introduction to understanding the FSB and its central role in Putin’s Russia.
Concise Histories of Intelligence SeriesChristopher Moran, Mark Phythian, and Mark Stout, Series Editors
216 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2024
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April 1, 2025Blääh!
May 8, 2026
This is the start of my journey through Georgetown University Press's Concise History series covering what appears like will be most of the intelligence services in the world (at least, this is my hope). I enjoyed this particular book for the straightfoward data it provides.
To be clear, this book is not nearly as bland, boring, and fact based as one of the previous books I've read on intelligence, namely The Hamas Intelligence War Against Israel, which while the material could have been interesting, was presented in such a structure as to be fact after fact after fact, with not even a hint of narrative history tying incidents or people together. Thankfully, it seems the writers for the Concise History series will take a better strategy at writing, if Kevin Riehle's writing is to be believed as representative of the product of this series. Sure, the book can get a bit bland at times, and the writing is straightforward and data focused, but there is at least SOME effort to tie the Russian FSB's history, activity, failures, successes, members, and other notable items into a unifying thread. In particular, I am impressed by Riehle's analysis of the FSB's connections to the Soviet Union's KGB and his analysis of the changes that Russian internal security went through during the fall of the Soviet Union.
A recommend from me to anyone interested in modern day Russian intelligence or even Russian intelligence history to a degree. This is a good book to have if you want to understand the place of an internal security department within an authoritarian country. I suspect I will enjoy similar analyses for Pakistan's ISI and Iran's Ministry of Intelligence, and I am pleased to see that Georgetown is publishing one on Frances DGSE soon, taking the analysis to "friendly" Western nations as well.
To be clear, this book is not nearly as bland, boring, and fact based as one of the previous books I've read on intelligence, namely The Hamas Intelligence War Against Israel, which while the material could have been interesting, was presented in such a structure as to be fact after fact after fact, with not even a hint of narrative history tying incidents or people together. Thankfully, it seems the writers for the Concise History series will take a better strategy at writing, if Kevin Riehle's writing is to be believed as representative of the product of this series. Sure, the book can get a bit bland at times, and the writing is straightforward and data focused, but there is at least SOME effort to tie the Russian FSB's history, activity, failures, successes, members, and other notable items into a unifying thread. In particular, I am impressed by Riehle's analysis of the FSB's connections to the Soviet Union's KGB and his analysis of the changes that Russian internal security went through during the fall of the Soviet Union.
A recommend from me to anyone interested in modern day Russian intelligence or even Russian intelligence history to a degree. This is a good book to have if you want to understand the place of an internal security department within an authoritarian country. I suspect I will enjoy similar analyses for Pakistan's ISI and Iran's Ministry of Intelligence, and I am pleased to see that Georgetown is publishing one on Frances DGSE soon, taking the analysis to "friendly" Western nations as well.
July 1, 2024
(Audiobook) Not that the content or information about the FSB, the modern successor to the KGB, was wrong, but the audiobook format was not the best way to convey this information. There was a lot of factual detail, which is key for understanding the role of this organization. However, when you start reading line by line the charts and graphs to explain a point, you lose listeners fast. The rating would likely be much, much higher as a hard/e-copy book. As an audiobook, unless you are visually impaired, I would completely skip this version.
August 13, 2024
This book was a lot more dense in information then I thought. Overall, it’s a very good book to look at if you want to get a deep dive into the FSB which has a huge presence in the everyday lives of Russians.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews