Codename: Hero: The True Story of Oleg Penkovsky and the Cold War's Most Dangerous Operation

by Jeremy Duns

In August 1960, a Soviet colonel called Oleg Penkovsky tried to make contact with the West. His first attempt was to approach two American students in Moscow. He handed them a bulky envelope and pleaded with them to deliver it to the American embassy. Inside was an offer to work as a 'soldier-warrior' for the free world. MI6 and the CIA ran Penkovsky jointly, in an operation that ran through the showdown over Berlin and the Cuban Missile Crisis. He provided crucial intelligence, including photographs of rocket manuals that helped Kennedy end the Cuba crisis and avert a war. Codenamed HERO, Penkovsky is widely seen as the most important spy of the Cold War, and the CIA-MI6 operation, run as the world stood on the brink of nuclear destruction, has never been bettered. But how exactly did the Russians detect Penkovsky, and why did they let him continue his contact with his handlers for months afterwards? Could it be that the whole Cuban Missile Crisis was part of a Soviet deception operation - and has another betrayal hidden in plain sight all these years? Thrilling, evocative and hugely controversial, Codename: Hero blows apart the myths surrounding one of the Cold War's greatest spy operations.

Genres: History, Espionage, Nonfiction, Biography, Russia

399 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 13, 2012

About the author

Jeremy Duns was born in 1973 and is the author of the acclaimed Paul Dark spy novels. He lives in the Åland islands.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the height of the cold war a Soviet colonel Oleg Penkovsky made his first tentative contacts with the west. After a hesitant start, the intelligence services, MI6 and the CIA realised what a catch this agent was and run him jointly. The intelligence that he provided, in particular through the Berlin blockade and the Cuban missile crisis was of the utmost importance, and probably played a significant part in averting a war at that point.

Given the code name Hero, his intelligence was top quality. He was a a vain man, who wanted to meet the queen and the president, and had photos taken of himself in American and British uniforms, until one day it was all over. He'd been detected by chance by the KGB, and was arrested.

Duns shines a light into the world of smoke and mirrors in this book, a place where nothing can be taken at face value, and you closest friend may be your greatest enemy. As well as the history and details of the man, he explores the revelation that Penkovsky may have been part of a huge Soviet deception, and was run to cover the fact that there was another mole in Western services.

Who knows the truth in this shadowy world, but Duns has at least had a reasonable stab at finding out.

[Cold War Conversations Podcast · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true cold war spy case that reads like a novel

I've not yet read any of Jeremy Duns fiction books yet, but this account of a key cold war spy case reads like a well written novel and based on this I'll be searching out Duns' fictional works.

Duns has produced a very thorough and easy to read account of one the most important agents of the Cold War. It's obvious that Duns has carried out detailed research as far as the written evidence allows, but he has had to offer some open ended answers on some of the questions raised in the case.

A worthy addition to my cold war non-fiction shelf.

[Karl Wegener · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I am with most of my daily routine, I am very disciplined about my TBR pile. Books are queued up, and there is no “bucking the line.” Order must be maintained otherwise I would never make it through my ever growing pile of books. New books are placed at the bottom, and I work my way through, one book at a time.

And then . . . this book arrived yesterday by post.

I had ordered it earlier in the week after chatting with Jeremy Duns online about Oleg Penkovsky. I immediately turned to the book’s index and searched for the name Pete Bagley, the former CIA officer whom Duns interviewed to learn what Bagley revealed about how and who may have passed on the information about Penkovsky to KGB counterintelligence.

Well. . . in an instant, the discipline and rigor of my TBR pile was shattered. I have spent nearly all night reading this masterfully written account of what was arguably the greatest spy operation of the Cold War.

The book reads like a police procedural, offering up tantalizing details of how Penkovsky was recruited and ultimately betrayed. Meticulously researched, I felt the desire to create an evidence board so that I could visualize the evidence laid out and recreate the timeline of the story. The only question I had was, “How on earth did I miss the existence of this book until now? The book was published in 2013 and until this week, it was completely unknown to me. What was I doing back in 2013 that I completely missed this?”

Bravo Jeremy. Well done. And thank you for calling this book to my attention. This is a wonderfully written account of a remarkable man. It will require several readings in order to extract all the details you have provided. I shall probably create that evidence board. But i am also happy to report that my TBR pile has returned to normal. Its order is once more intact. But, thank you Jeremy for helping me to shake things up a bit!

[Marin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over a period of about one year and a half, at the beginning of the 60’s, Oleg Penkovsky, a high-ranking Soviet official gave CIA and MI6 an incredibly detailed amount of classified military, political, and economic documents.
The scope and quality of the material Penkovsky handed over make it undeniable that this was the West’s greatest intelligence haul of the Cold War. It also came at a crucial time, and together with the intelligence he supplied regarding the Soviet nuclear arsenal revealing the Soviets’ relatively weak capability in long-range missiles, proved invaluable to the United States before and during the Cuban missile crisis.

Penkovsky was a neurotic and a vain person, and it seems he didn’t do it for ideological or financial reasons, but out of petty vengeance.
He was married, with 2 young children, and knew the dangers he exposed himself to, but acted as if he walked on water.

The book is well-researched and the author succeeds in bringing up the tension of the whole operation, but the files regarding Penkovsky and his handlers are mostly still secret, so very little is known. As a result, large chapters of the book deal with imagined reconstructions of Penkovsky’s s final hours, a description of the way the Kennedy administration dealt with the Cuban missile crisis, and with an analysis of the theories regarding the most likely way Penkovsky was detected by the KGB, the author believing a British journalist part-working for KGB gave them an unwittingly hint that there was a mole in Moscow.

It is frustrating that even after so many years, little is known about this major cold war spying affair and its main protagonist.
We don’t even know what happened to his wife and children, who most probably suffered enormously.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Junk journalism at its best. This is "The True Story", even if it is romanticized to the point of Gone with the Wind, minus the lack of skills of the author. And make no mistakes, this is "the Cold War's Most Dangerous Operation"!

Finally, a work of fiction, based on some shallow facts. Another work of propaganda in favor of Government agencies. At least Ian Fleming had a case, this junk only perpetuates the Red Scare when Russia is barely able to pay its wages.

[Adam Balshan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars [History]
(W 3.24 / U 3.07 / T 3.5)
Exact rating: 3.27

A history of one of the most famous spy cases of the Cold War. Very good backgrounding and organization. Balanced and well-researched. Due to this and its late publication date (2013), this would be the one book to read if one is specifically interested in the Oleg Penkovsky case, the source of the plot of the 2020 movie "The Courier" starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

[Gonzaga Escauriaza · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it but we come again with the doubt of Oleg being a defector or a plant.
After all the information he provided the MI6 and the CIA they should have been able to tell if he was a plant or a genuine defector.
Anyway i enjoyed the moments where Kennedy had to make up his mind and come up with a soultion for the Cuba and the Berlin crisis.

[Peter L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Code name Hero, The True Story of Oleg ...

Code name Hero tells the complicated true story of a Russian who voluntarily worked as a spy until he was outed... His being a spy during the period of the Cuban Missile crisis. Invaluable help as finding useful information was difficult as what was true & what wasn’t . A good read.

[RACHEL · Rating 4 out of 5]

True story of Oleg Penkovsky

Interesting true story of a Russian GRU officer who spied for the UK & US, and played a major role in defusing the Cuban missile crisis. Lots of description of real world spycraft and Cold War intelligence.

[Rick B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book, but becomes confusing near the end as the author explores a litany of possible ways Penkovsky was compromised.

[Rafique Shariff · Rating 1 out of 5]

horrible

Pedantic and repetitive. A childish story with little dept and bad literature and writing style. Do not waste your time

[Forthbridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in the Cold War then this book adds value. The writer has researched the subject vigorously and handles the material deftly.
At a recent talk in Edinburgh he indicated that he has information from a Russian defector who has named a traitor working in the CIA who gave up Penkovsky to the Soviets. Mr Duns is currently checking on this allegation, but he says that names and dates of other incidents are checking out.
As well as being a very brave man, Penkovsky seemed to be quite content to start a nuclear conflagration - read the book for more details, as I would not want to drop a megaton spoiler here.

[Max Gwynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

One word: WOW! Jeremy Duns has written a fantastic book here. Normally renound for Cold War fiction novels, Mr Duns in his new non-fiction book, 'Dead Drop', reveals the true story of Russian defector Oleg Penkovsky who would be the West's greatest source of information with regards to Russia political and military secrets at the pinnacle of Cold War tensions at the start of the 1960s. A must read!

[Brendan Crowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thorough and entertaining account of one the most important double agents during the Cold War. The author engaged in intensive research and paints a gripping and readable narrative. He is open that a lot of his conclusions are based on probability rather than certainty given the uncertainty of anything abou the history of espionage.

Very surprised anyone could give this a one star review unless they didn't like the subject matter at all (and the why read it!!!)

[Jo Easton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read

Well written interpretation of a fascinating story. Worked well as a narrative and it really brought to life how Penkovsky's time as a spy might have gone. Of course, it is not just the last part of the book that is the author's interpretation; the whole book is weaved together from varied sources. But, having not read anything else on the issue, I see no reason to question the author's judgement and enjoyed the insight provided.

[Aziz Kader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good in parts. Where author disputes possibilities the evidence is a bit weak.

[John Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable but not as explosive as I expected. Makes a couple of claims about the situation that seem to be his alone at the minute which makes me suspicious.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good spy history

Anyone interested in spies CIA KGB etc history would be interested in reading this book. Thing gives out names and paces.