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The Spy Who Changed History: The Untold Story of How the Soviet Union Won the Race for America's Top Secrets
On the trail of Soviet infiltrator Agent Bleriot, Svetlana Lokhova takes the reader on a thrilling journey through Stalin's most audacious intelligence operation.
On a sunny September day in 1931, a Soviet spy walked down the gangplank of the luxury transatlantic liner SS Europa and into New York. Attracting no attention, Stanislav Shumovsky had completed his journey from Moscow to enrol at a top American university. He was concealed in a group of 65 Soviet students heading to prestigious academic institutions. But he was after far more than an excellent education.
Recognising Russia was 100 years behind the encircling capitalist powers, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had sent Shumovsky on a mission to acquire America's vital secrets to help close the USSR's yawning technology gap. The road to victory began in the classrooms and laboratories of MIT - Shumovsky's destination soon became the unwitting finishing school for elite Russian spies. The USSR first transformed itself into a military powerhouse able to confront and defeat Nazi Germany.
Then in an extraordinary feat that astonished the West, in 1947 American ingenuity and innovation exfiltrated by Shumovsky made it possible to build and unveil the most advanced strategic bomber in the world. Following his lead, other MIT-trained Soviet spies helped acquire the secrets of the Manhattan Project. By 1949, Stalin's fleet of TU-4s, now equipped with atomic bombs could devastate the US on his command.
Appropriately codenamed BLERIOT, Shumovsky was an aviation spy. Shumovsky's espionage was so successful that the USSR acquired every US aviation secret from his network of agents in factories and at top secret military research institutes.
In this thrilling history, Svetlana Lokhova takes the reader on a journey through Stalin's most audacious intelligence operation. She pieces together every aspect of Shumovsky's life and character using information derived from American and Russian archives, exposing how even Shirley Temple and Franklin D. Roosevelt unwittingly advanced his schemes.
On a sunny September day in 1931, a Soviet spy walked down the gangplank of the luxury transatlantic liner SS Europa and into New York. Attracting no attention, Stanislav Shumovsky had completed his journey from Moscow to enrol at a top American university. He was concealed in a group of 65 Soviet students heading to prestigious academic institutions. But he was after far more than an excellent education.
Recognising Russia was 100 years behind the encircling capitalist powers, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had sent Shumovsky on a mission to acquire America's vital secrets to help close the USSR's yawning technology gap. The road to victory began in the classrooms and laboratories of MIT - Shumovsky's destination soon became the unwitting finishing school for elite Russian spies. The USSR first transformed itself into a military powerhouse able to confront and defeat Nazi Germany.
Then in an extraordinary feat that astonished the West, in 1947 American ingenuity and innovation exfiltrated by Shumovsky made it possible to build and unveil the most advanced strategic bomber in the world. Following his lead, other MIT-trained Soviet spies helped acquire the secrets of the Manhattan Project. By 1949, Stalin's fleet of TU-4s, now equipped with atomic bombs could devastate the US on his command.
Appropriately codenamed BLERIOT, Shumovsky was an aviation spy. Shumovsky's espionage was so successful that the USSR acquired every US aviation secret from his network of agents in factories and at top secret military research institutes.
In this thrilling history, Svetlana Lokhova takes the reader on a journey through Stalin's most audacious intelligence operation. She pieces together every aspect of Shumovsky's life and character using information derived from American and Russian archives, exposing how even Shirley Temple and Franklin D. Roosevelt unwittingly advanced his schemes.
496 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2019
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September 7, 2018
In 1931, Joseph Stalin announced ‘we are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must catch up in ten years. Either we do it or they will crush us’
This is one of those books whose title does it a bit of a disservice as it’s a far broader and richer story than one of Soviet spies infiltrating the US. In fact, one of the questions I found myself asking was whether sending a cohort of Russian student engineers openly to study in US universities where they have access to, and contribute to, ongoing research projects which are in the public domain even counts as spying? That’s not to say that Stanislav Shumovsky, the ostensible subject of this book, doesn’t also set up an intelligence network in the US (many of whom were Jews worried about the increasing anti-Semitism of 1930s USA) but the story which ends in 1945 is far richer and more complex than merely one of espionage.
Set against a sweeping history of how Russia drew itself out of the ‘dark ages’ under the tsars where less than 30% of the population was literate, a status to which they were held by deliberate tsarist policies such as imposing taxes on village schools that sought to teach children and adults to read and write (the tsars feared that education and literacy would cause the population to question the status quo and overthrow the autocracy), this places Stalin’s Five-Year Plans within the context of preparing the nation for the predicted invasion by Nazi Germany. Sending Russians to study in the US wasn’t to destroy the US system of government (the Soviets believed that capitalism would implode all by itself) but to strengthen the position of the USSR in the upcoming war.
It’s fascinating to read how this first-generation of Soviet intellectuals and engineers found their feet in American institutions such as MIT and Harvard; even more fascinating to read about WW2 through Russian eyes with a technology focus. Set against Hitler’s aim to dismantle the USSR and exterminate the Slav population, ‘surrender was never on Stalin’s agenda’. And after Pearl Harbour, the uneasy alliance between Russia and the US led to more complicated negotiations as America reluctantly extended credit lines to the USSR ($11 billion, in comparison with the $31 billion sent to the UK) as the 25 million Russian casualties kept the Eastern Front open and the Third Reich occupied.
Even the infiltration of the Manhattan Project (America’s secret development of the atom bomb) was driven more by fear of Hitler’s German who, in 1941, were generally believed to be ahead of the Americans and likely to use the weapon against Russia first – however much things changed after the war.
Based on newly-released archives in Russia, this is a fascinating story that allows us to look at well-known events with fresh eyes.
Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC via NetGalley.
January 24, 2020
In her first book, THE SPY WHO CHANGED HISTORY: THE UNTOLD STORY OF HOW THE SOVIET UNION WON THE RACE FOR AMERICA’S TOP SECRETS Svetlana Lokhova argues that in the early 1930s Joseph Stalin came to the realization that if the Soviet Union was to survive drastic measures needed to be taken to improve the state of Soviet technology visa vie the west. The Russian dictator stated that “We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must catch up in ten years. Either we do it, or they will crush us.” Stalin feared that large numbers of enemy aircraft could easily release poisonous gases over Soviet territory resulting in the death of millions. The Soviet dictator’s solution was multifaceted; starve millions of peasants to death through collectivization to acquire hard currency to assist in Russia’s industrialization, show trials/purges/murder of those who opposed him, and the institution of a spy system that could steal secrets from the west, the United States in particular. Lokhova chooses to focus on the last component of Stalin’s strategy by dispatching two intelligence officers, one an aviation specialist, the other a chemical specialist to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to acquire aeronautics, chemical research and other relevant information and bring it back to the Soviet Union.
In her book, Lokhova makes the case that the success of this mission allowed the NKVD (later morphed into the KGB) to develop a dependable source of western technology, particularly in aviation that would allow it to defend the Soviet Union from its enemies and eventually defeat Nazi Germany. This operation would form the basis of later espionage against the United States that would allow Moscow to reach an equilibrium with Washington as both sides would develop a process that some refer to as “mutual assured destruction” or MAD. As this process unfolds Lokhova points out that the United States became the source of a great deal of nuclear technology that fueled both sides of the nuclear arms race.
According to Lokhova the Soviets’ long science and technology (S & T) mission remained a secret for over eighty years as both sides in the arms race decided to maintain their secrets. Relying on previously undiscovered Soviet-era documents among many sources Lokhova tells her story through its first spy, Stanislav Shumovsky, the network of agents he created, the contacts in American aviation industry, in addition to other spies and important figures in the Soviet aviation community.
The author offers a brief biography of each of the characters she develops focusing most of her attention on Shumovsky whose family had been uprooted during World War I from their Polish home and moved to Kharkov located in southern Ukraine. He completed five years of secondary education and was a gifted linguist that eventually included English. He was an excellent math and science student and after witnessing the plight of Russian workers and peasant joined the Red Army at the age of sixteen. Lokhova describes the Russian Revolution and the bloody Civil War that followed and its impact on Shumovsky creating the perfect candidate to enter the intelligence field. His mission was to attend MIT and digest a technical education that would assist him in developing a network of sources and spies that would provide the data that he sought. His success was beyond anything his handlers could imagine. He would build a network of contacts and agents in factories and research institutions across the United States According to Lokhova he would mastermind the systematic acquisition of every aviation secret American industry had to offer. He worked with top aircraft designers and test pilots and the information he provided to men like Andrey Tupolev, an expert in reverse engineering, the Soviets were able to copy and create their own version of American planes, weapons, and other technological achievements including later, the atomic bomb.
Lokhova does a nice job explaining how and why the United States became the target of Russian industrial espionage. American corporations had mastered, at first, under the tutelage of Henry Ford the model of mass production, and the country itself was urbanized with a high standard of living. Stalin and Felix Dzerzhinsky, the Soviet Intelligence Chief and Chairman of the Supreme Economic Council believed that the United States was the world’s leading technological innovator and a role model that should be targeted. As it became clear that the Soviet Union could not industrialize with heavy industry without foreign expertise, and later the looming threat of Nazi Germany and Japan, Moscow had to obtain technology by stealing it. Dzerzhinsky would die in 1926, but the die was cast for Stalin to manipulate the United States for Soviet technological needs.
The most interesting aspect of this process Lokhova points out is that most Americans have no clue the important role the United States played in Russian industrialization. The author is extremely thorough in explaining the development of foreign operations by the NKVD and the role of Artur Artuzov. In 1931, 75 Russian students arrived in the United States to attend elite universities; their vocations were varied including specially trained spies. The largest percentage of students would attend MIT with Shumovsky. Stalin’s goal was to emulate and surpass the United States, but to achieve this he needed educated engineers who would become Soviet societal leaders. To achieve his goal the American education model would be copied.
Shumovsky’s story reads like an early episode from the television series, “The Americans.” Easily fitting into American society, he oversaw the education and acculturation of his cohorts to life away from Russia. They would blend into American society targeting young, idealistic, and naïve Americans at universities and corporations. At MIT, Shumovsky was able to develop the industrial contacts in performing his mission – a camaraderie of scientists that allowed him to build his network. He would spot classmates like Norman Leslie Haight, a radio engineer whose specialty was bomb sights who would remain a Soviet source for decades.
Lokhova concentrates her story on Shumovsky, but she also introduces a number of intriguing characters like Ivan “Diesel” Trashutin, who attended MIT and studied diesel engineering who contributed more to the Soviet victory in WWII than any MIT alumnus, with designs for T-34 and T-72 tanks. His task was facilitated when Stalin dismantled Soviet factories and moved them east of the Urals after the Nazis attacked in June 1941, resulting in tanks that would power the Soviet Army to victory in Berlin. Other important individuals include Mikhail Cherniavsky, a chemical engineer and intelligence officer, who was a Trotskyite linked to trying to assassinate Stalin. Ray Epstein Bennett, a Jewish socialist recruited to spy for the Soviet Directorate served in Shanghai, Afghanistan, and would become the tutor for MIT students - a Pygmalion Project. Gaik Ovakimian, who the FBI labeled the “Wily Armenian,” acquired plans for the Atomic Bomb and the B-29 Super Fortress. Lastly, Semyon Semyonov, another MIT student who Shumovsky mentored discovered which scientists were working on the Manhattan Project and managed to establish firm contacts with physicists close to Oppenheimer, among a number of others.
The author does an exceptional job explaining the process of Soviet recruitment and the infrastructure of how it was implemented. By the mid-1930s with the rise and threat of Nazi Germany recruitment was ramped up leading to the recruitment of Brooklyn College chemistry professor William Malisoff who brought Julius and Ethel Rosenberg into the fold. Once Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized the Soviet Union new avenues for intelligence gathering were created with what appears to be American cooperation as information was seized “in plain sight,” and relayed back to Moscow. American naivete was apparent as the US embassy in the Soviet capitol had little or no security for decades and Stalin’s minions exploited the situation.
For Shumovsky, traditional spy operations were not enough to accomplish his mission. The Soviet spy had an innate sense of how to create publicity and use it as a vehicle to improve American-Soviet relations which would lead to greater access to American corporations and their technology, i.e., Curtiss-Wright Aircraft, the largest company of its kind in the United States. This would prove to be an effective strategy by ingratiating himself with aviation executives and engineers to obtain plans, research, and actual models. A good example of how this played out was the flight of the Soviet ANT 25 over the North Pole with three pilots landing on the US Pacific Coast. The three pilots would become heroes much like astronauts in the 1960s and 70s and were given access to practically any process or research they were interested in.
Lokhova’s approach is captivating as she draws out her story with the reader wondering how in detail the Russians accomplished their heists. She answers this question and at times the narrative reads like a spy novel. If there is a criticism of her work, it is at times her opinions do not necessarily match the historical record. For example, she argues that the Great Purges of 1937 instituted by Stalin were caused by the Fascist victory in Spain. According to Robert Conquest, a British historian and others the major reason was Stalin needed to blame individuals for the horrific results of collectivization that resulted in the starvation of millions and the need to protect himself from any opposition to his leadership.
The advent of World War II brought about certain difficulties for Soviet intelligence. The need for American planes in the Pacific after Pearl Harbor produced only leftovers for Moscow. The upswing in the US economy because of the war left fewer targets to recruit. Washington finally became security conscious. The war resulted in in a dramatic increase in American patriotism. Despite these difficulties, the Soviet Union was able to penetrate American and British security over the Manhattan Project employing the Cambridge Five in England, and the network and followers of Shumovsky to gather the necessary information, research, and plans for the atomic bomb.
According to Lokhova, Shumovsky’s success was his ability to adapt his methods to the changing circumstances and used America’s strengths and weaknesses and turn them to his advantage. He was a talented student, a representative of a major aviation customer, and a skilled military advisor, skills which contributed to his success. His successors would use his methods, and their contacts in the scientific community and factories brought the Soviet Union valuable intelligence on America’s developments in jets, rockets, and the atomic bomb. It is fascinating that his accomplishments were pretty much conducted in “plain sight.”
Overall, Lokhova has written a fascinating account of Russian espionage and the role the United States played in the eventual success of the Soviet Union which would lead to the Cold War and the nuclear balance of power. According to Frances Wilson in her Daily Telegraph review of June 24, 2018 entitled “The Spy who came into the lab – How the Soviets infiltrated MIT” it is interesting that certain elements in the Russian government tried to harass and discredit her to the point she was falsely accused on “social media of being a Russian spy and of setting a ‘honey trap’ for Donald Trump’s former National Security advisor, General Michael Flynn.” Despite the pressure she has been able to produce a groundbreaking account of Soviet espionage in the 1930s and 40s. This is a remarkable book about amazing people and what is most astonishing is that our perception of the center of 20th century espionage has shifted “from Cambridge, England, to Cambridge Massachusetts.”
In her book, Lokhova makes the case that the success of this mission allowed the NKVD (later morphed into the KGB) to develop a dependable source of western technology, particularly in aviation that would allow it to defend the Soviet Union from its enemies and eventually defeat Nazi Germany. This operation would form the basis of later espionage against the United States that would allow Moscow to reach an equilibrium with Washington as both sides would develop a process that some refer to as “mutual assured destruction” or MAD. As this process unfolds Lokhova points out that the United States became the source of a great deal of nuclear technology that fueled both sides of the nuclear arms race.
According to Lokhova the Soviets’ long science and technology (S & T) mission remained a secret for over eighty years as both sides in the arms race decided to maintain their secrets. Relying on previously undiscovered Soviet-era documents among many sources Lokhova tells her story through its first spy, Stanislav Shumovsky, the network of agents he created, the contacts in American aviation industry, in addition to other spies and important figures in the Soviet aviation community.
The author offers a brief biography of each of the characters she develops focusing most of her attention on Shumovsky whose family had been uprooted during World War I from their Polish home and moved to Kharkov located in southern Ukraine. He completed five years of secondary education and was a gifted linguist that eventually included English. He was an excellent math and science student and after witnessing the plight of Russian workers and peasant joined the Red Army at the age of sixteen. Lokhova describes the Russian Revolution and the bloody Civil War that followed and its impact on Shumovsky creating the perfect candidate to enter the intelligence field. His mission was to attend MIT and digest a technical education that would assist him in developing a network of sources and spies that would provide the data that he sought. His success was beyond anything his handlers could imagine. He would build a network of contacts and agents in factories and research institutions across the United States According to Lokhova he would mastermind the systematic acquisition of every aviation secret American industry had to offer. He worked with top aircraft designers and test pilots and the information he provided to men like Andrey Tupolev, an expert in reverse engineering, the Soviets were able to copy and create their own version of American planes, weapons, and other technological achievements including later, the atomic bomb.
Lokhova does a nice job explaining how and why the United States became the target of Russian industrial espionage. American corporations had mastered, at first, under the tutelage of Henry Ford the model of mass production, and the country itself was urbanized with a high standard of living. Stalin and Felix Dzerzhinsky, the Soviet Intelligence Chief and Chairman of the Supreme Economic Council believed that the United States was the world’s leading technological innovator and a role model that should be targeted. As it became clear that the Soviet Union could not industrialize with heavy industry without foreign expertise, and later the looming threat of Nazi Germany and Japan, Moscow had to obtain technology by stealing it. Dzerzhinsky would die in 1926, but the die was cast for Stalin to manipulate the United States for Soviet technological needs.
The most interesting aspect of this process Lokhova points out is that most Americans have no clue the important role the United States played in Russian industrialization. The author is extremely thorough in explaining the development of foreign operations by the NKVD and the role of Artur Artuzov. In 1931, 75 Russian students arrived in the United States to attend elite universities; their vocations were varied including specially trained spies. The largest percentage of students would attend MIT with Shumovsky. Stalin’s goal was to emulate and surpass the United States, but to achieve this he needed educated engineers who would become Soviet societal leaders. To achieve his goal the American education model would be copied.
Shumovsky’s story reads like an early episode from the television series, “The Americans.” Easily fitting into American society, he oversaw the education and acculturation of his cohorts to life away from Russia. They would blend into American society targeting young, idealistic, and naïve Americans at universities and corporations. At MIT, Shumovsky was able to develop the industrial contacts in performing his mission – a camaraderie of scientists that allowed him to build his network. He would spot classmates like Norman Leslie Haight, a radio engineer whose specialty was bomb sights who would remain a Soviet source for decades.
Lokhova concentrates her story on Shumovsky, but she also introduces a number of intriguing characters like Ivan “Diesel” Trashutin, who attended MIT and studied diesel engineering who contributed more to the Soviet victory in WWII than any MIT alumnus, with designs for T-34 and T-72 tanks. His task was facilitated when Stalin dismantled Soviet factories and moved them east of the Urals after the Nazis attacked in June 1941, resulting in tanks that would power the Soviet Army to victory in Berlin. Other important individuals include Mikhail Cherniavsky, a chemical engineer and intelligence officer, who was a Trotskyite linked to trying to assassinate Stalin. Ray Epstein Bennett, a Jewish socialist recruited to spy for the Soviet Directorate served in Shanghai, Afghanistan, and would become the tutor for MIT students - a Pygmalion Project. Gaik Ovakimian, who the FBI labeled the “Wily Armenian,” acquired plans for the Atomic Bomb and the B-29 Super Fortress. Lastly, Semyon Semyonov, another MIT student who Shumovsky mentored discovered which scientists were working on the Manhattan Project and managed to establish firm contacts with physicists close to Oppenheimer, among a number of others.
The author does an exceptional job explaining the process of Soviet recruitment and the infrastructure of how it was implemented. By the mid-1930s with the rise and threat of Nazi Germany recruitment was ramped up leading to the recruitment of Brooklyn College chemistry professor William Malisoff who brought Julius and Ethel Rosenberg into the fold. Once Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized the Soviet Union new avenues for intelligence gathering were created with what appears to be American cooperation as information was seized “in plain sight,” and relayed back to Moscow. American naivete was apparent as the US embassy in the Soviet capitol had little or no security for decades and Stalin’s minions exploited the situation.
For Shumovsky, traditional spy operations were not enough to accomplish his mission. The Soviet spy had an innate sense of how to create publicity and use it as a vehicle to improve American-Soviet relations which would lead to greater access to American corporations and their technology, i.e., Curtiss-Wright Aircraft, the largest company of its kind in the United States. This would prove to be an effective strategy by ingratiating himself with aviation executives and engineers to obtain plans, research, and actual models. A good example of how this played out was the flight of the Soviet ANT 25 over the North Pole with three pilots landing on the US Pacific Coast. The three pilots would become heroes much like astronauts in the 1960s and 70s and were given access to practically any process or research they were interested in.
Lokhova’s approach is captivating as she draws out her story with the reader wondering how in detail the Russians accomplished their heists. She answers this question and at times the narrative reads like a spy novel. If there is a criticism of her work, it is at times her opinions do not necessarily match the historical record. For example, she argues that the Great Purges of 1937 instituted by Stalin were caused by the Fascist victory in Spain. According to Robert Conquest, a British historian and others the major reason was Stalin needed to blame individuals for the horrific results of collectivization that resulted in the starvation of millions and the need to protect himself from any opposition to his leadership.
The advent of World War II brought about certain difficulties for Soviet intelligence. The need for American planes in the Pacific after Pearl Harbor produced only leftovers for Moscow. The upswing in the US economy because of the war left fewer targets to recruit. Washington finally became security conscious. The war resulted in in a dramatic increase in American patriotism. Despite these difficulties, the Soviet Union was able to penetrate American and British security over the Manhattan Project employing the Cambridge Five in England, and the network and followers of Shumovsky to gather the necessary information, research, and plans for the atomic bomb.
According to Lokhova, Shumovsky’s success was his ability to adapt his methods to the changing circumstances and used America’s strengths and weaknesses and turn them to his advantage. He was a talented student, a representative of a major aviation customer, and a skilled military advisor, skills which contributed to his success. His successors would use his methods, and their contacts in the scientific community and factories brought the Soviet Union valuable intelligence on America’s developments in jets, rockets, and the atomic bomb. It is fascinating that his accomplishments were pretty much conducted in “plain sight.”
Overall, Lokhova has written a fascinating account of Russian espionage and the role the United States played in the eventual success of the Soviet Union which would lead to the Cold War and the nuclear balance of power. According to Frances Wilson in her Daily Telegraph review of June 24, 2018 entitled “The Spy who came into the lab – How the Soviets infiltrated MIT” it is interesting that certain elements in the Russian government tried to harass and discredit her to the point she was falsely accused on “social media of being a Russian spy and of setting a ‘honey trap’ for Donald Trump’s former National Security advisor, General Michael Flynn.” Despite the pressure she has been able to produce a groundbreaking account of Soviet espionage in the 1930s and 40s. This is a remarkable book about amazing people and what is most astonishing is that our perception of the center of 20th century espionage has shifted “from Cambridge, England, to Cambridge Massachusetts.”
September 23, 2018
A book written by a Russian to glorify Russia and its greatest leader, Josef Stalin. Throughout the book the author praises the great work done by a group of Russian spies who accepted American hospitality, education and support and then stole as many technological secrets as they could and fled back to Russia, making fools of the Americans who helped and befriended them. The complicity of MIT in their schemes has changed my opinion of that university. All this duplicity took place many years agop but .... "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose".
August 17, 2018
This story should be riveting and when it gets closer to the war it is, but I found myself spacing out in much the way I did with high school history textbooks. By the end, you're happy that the Americans have left themselves open to espionage because without that, the Germans might have forced a Soviet surrender, and at the same time, you're looking at the carelessness of the U.S. government when it came to profit and thinking, "we are soooo f#cked."
November 22, 2019
The Spy Who Changed History focuses on Stanislov Shumovsky (Stan) who went by the code name BLERIOT during his time in the United States. Stan was part of a cadre of Soviet Spies who came to the United States to study at top institutions for the purposes of stealing scientific secrets in the 1930’s before the Cold War was even thought of. His work would lead to the development of many Soviet airplanes and set the stage for gathering the secrets for the Atom Bomb. Of the many spies sent by the soviets Stan would prove to be the most effective with sources all over the United States. The book focuses on more than just Stan but also those who came over and were around him giving a through look at the efforts of Soviet Intelligence in its early days where there were as many missteps as successes. It is a sharp contrast to the spies read about during the Cold War era and presents a great look at the Soviet government during the early days of intelligence gathering. For those interested in Russian history of the Soviet era this is a great addition to the historiography.
November 19, 2018
On October 31 2018, the Justice Department of the United States issued charges against two Chinese nationals for being intelligence operatives for the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) and attempting to steal the design for a US jet engine. The two had been attempting to hack into the company computer system and steal a joint US/French jet design for a commercial engine similar to one the Chinese were developing. The Chinese had been conducting this operation for over five years. Not only did they attempt to hack the system remotely, they also convinced two Chinese nationals that worked for the company to install malware on the company systems to assist in the attempts.
At the time I was reading The Spy Who Changed History and promised a review in a week or so. This is that review. A bit late but I needed to finish the book and I hope you’ll think the wait was worth it. The reading of the book definitely was.
The activities of the MSS highlight the precarious and desirous position that American knowledge, industrial secrets, and ingenuity still hold as the pinnacle of intellectual know-how. Today the Chinese, among likely many others, risk intellectual resources and manpower as well as potential real jail time in order to gain an advantage over the US and other countries. For the Soviets, after the horror of the First World War and the shocking self inflicted damage of their own civil war, the stakes must have seemed even higher. They felt exposed and vulnerable with no allies, let alone friends, in sight. It would be in this context that a group of Soviet scientist would risk not just their own safety but what they believed was the safety of their homeland in an attempt - not in their eyes to level the playing field - to bring themselves up to parity with the rest of the world. As Svetlana Lokhova points out in her book and mentions when lecturing on this topic, Stalin himself felt the Soviets to be 100 years behind the rest of the modern world. If they failed to catch up, and catch up quickly, they faced being wiped out when the next war they knew was imminent commenced.
To these ends, a remarkable and a remarkably unremarkable man was sent to gather not just the industrial secrets but the industry itself that would save the Soviet Union. Stanislav Shumovsky was sent with a small group of Soviet scientists and engineers in 1931 to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to get advanced degrees. Stan, as he was known, was a hero of the Soviet civil war and a brilliant aviation engineer and scientist in his own right. In the following years he would not only garner a degree from the prestigious university but also contacts which he would utilize to gain the clandestine knowledge his country needed in order to survive. In the process Shumovsky truly won the race for America's top secrets. He also won the opening battles of the cold war and in the process developed the process by which the Soviet Union wound spend the next several decades mining the west for the information they needed.
Shumovskys story is fascinating, spanning the formative years of Soviet espionage through the hard fought intelligence battles of World War 2 to his culminating triumph of the Cold war; the development of both atomic weapons and the means to deliver them. However it is not just Shumovskys story. Although he plays an exceedingly large role in this missive, the story belongs to all the spies, agents, collaborators, and Soviet patriots. All these people risked their very lives sometimes, if not jail time or at least public and diplomatic embarrassment.
This is probably the primary, albeit small, issue I have with the book overall and with how Svetlana Lokhova has portrayed the overall story. This book is about more than just the singular achievements of Stanislav Shumovsky. Although I can see from a marketing perspective how focusing on a singular element of the story makes for easier comprehension. I grant also that Stanislav Shumovsky was primary in developing the system the Soviet Union used for decades. As well written as this book is and as engaging as Ms. Lokhova makes the story, it occasionally comes off as jarring when the story strays from Shumovsky as we are geared to expect this to be his story.
The only other issue I had with the book was its handling of the passage of time. With a story this complex and detailed and covering not only the nearly 20 years Shumovsky was active but also providing us back story going back another roughly 20 years, keeping proper flow is difficult. Occasionally during short passages Ms. Lokhova jumps back and forth in the timeline. This makes it difficult to keep track of where in the overall timeline a particular passage is happening or to what other event it relates. I do, however, expect very high standards in the storytelling when I read histories and historical analysis and am holding up Ms. Lokhova to the likes of Ben Macintyre. I must admit she comes very close to the mark.
With this latest revelation of espionage by the Chinese MSS, the ongoing interference in elections by the Russians, and the Saudi operations in Turkey; it would be excessive to reiterate the words of George Santayana about remembering the past. As I mentioned in my review of The Spy Net: The Greatest Intelligence Operations of the First World War, those of us who study history and unfortunately Americans in particular suffer from what Professor Christopher Andrews of Cambridge University calls H.A.D.S. or Historical Attention Deficit Syndrome. As a student of Professor Andrews, the freshman literary and historical outing of Ms. Lokhova admirably helps us remember. I look forward to seeing more work from her.
At the time I was reading The Spy Who Changed History and promised a review in a week or so. This is that review. A bit late but I needed to finish the book and I hope you’ll think the wait was worth it. The reading of the book definitely was.
The activities of the MSS highlight the precarious and desirous position that American knowledge, industrial secrets, and ingenuity still hold as the pinnacle of intellectual know-how. Today the Chinese, among likely many others, risk intellectual resources and manpower as well as potential real jail time in order to gain an advantage over the US and other countries. For the Soviets, after the horror of the First World War and the shocking self inflicted damage of their own civil war, the stakes must have seemed even higher. They felt exposed and vulnerable with no allies, let alone friends, in sight. It would be in this context that a group of Soviet scientist would risk not just their own safety but what they believed was the safety of their homeland in an attempt - not in their eyes to level the playing field - to bring themselves up to parity with the rest of the world. As Svetlana Lokhova points out in her book and mentions when lecturing on this topic, Stalin himself felt the Soviets to be 100 years behind the rest of the modern world. If they failed to catch up, and catch up quickly, they faced being wiped out when the next war they knew was imminent commenced.
To these ends, a remarkable and a remarkably unremarkable man was sent to gather not just the industrial secrets but the industry itself that would save the Soviet Union. Stanislav Shumovsky was sent with a small group of Soviet scientists and engineers in 1931 to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to get advanced degrees. Stan, as he was known, was a hero of the Soviet civil war and a brilliant aviation engineer and scientist in his own right. In the following years he would not only garner a degree from the prestigious university but also contacts which he would utilize to gain the clandestine knowledge his country needed in order to survive. In the process Shumovsky truly won the race for America's top secrets. He also won the opening battles of the cold war and in the process developed the process by which the Soviet Union wound spend the next several decades mining the west for the information they needed.
Shumovskys story is fascinating, spanning the formative years of Soviet espionage through the hard fought intelligence battles of World War 2 to his culminating triumph of the Cold war; the development of both atomic weapons and the means to deliver them. However it is not just Shumovskys story. Although he plays an exceedingly large role in this missive, the story belongs to all the spies, agents, collaborators, and Soviet patriots. All these people risked their very lives sometimes, if not jail time or at least public and diplomatic embarrassment.
This is probably the primary, albeit small, issue I have with the book overall and with how Svetlana Lokhova has portrayed the overall story. This book is about more than just the singular achievements of Stanislav Shumovsky. Although I can see from a marketing perspective how focusing on a singular element of the story makes for easier comprehension. I grant also that Stanislav Shumovsky was primary in developing the system the Soviet Union used for decades. As well written as this book is and as engaging as Ms. Lokhova makes the story, it occasionally comes off as jarring when the story strays from Shumovsky as we are geared to expect this to be his story.
The only other issue I had with the book was its handling of the passage of time. With a story this complex and detailed and covering not only the nearly 20 years Shumovsky was active but also providing us back story going back another roughly 20 years, keeping proper flow is difficult. Occasionally during short passages Ms. Lokhova jumps back and forth in the timeline. This makes it difficult to keep track of where in the overall timeline a particular passage is happening or to what other event it relates. I do, however, expect very high standards in the storytelling when I read histories and historical analysis and am holding up Ms. Lokhova to the likes of Ben Macintyre. I must admit she comes very close to the mark.
With this latest revelation of espionage by the Chinese MSS, the ongoing interference in elections by the Russians, and the Saudi operations in Turkey; it would be excessive to reiterate the words of George Santayana about remembering the past. As I mentioned in my review of The Spy Net: The Greatest Intelligence Operations of the First World War, those of us who study history and unfortunately Americans in particular suffer from what Professor Christopher Andrews of Cambridge University calls H.A.D.S. or Historical Attention Deficit Syndrome. As a student of Professor Andrews, the freshman literary and historical outing of Ms. Lokhova admirably helps us remember. I look forward to seeing more work from her.
February 10, 2022
This started with such promise and fascination and sadly turned into a textbook. Far too much time was given to dull facts and not enough to what initially got me interested in the topic of Russian espionage! There were so many names, places, timelines, etc it was hard to follow any pattern of activity. It ended in a slog to finish and it has left me appreciating the style of Ben McIntyre even more.
October 31, 2019
The Spy Who Changed History by Svetlana Lokhova is a biography about Stanislav Shumovsky who was a Soviet spy and intellect who is credited with stealing the American atomic bomb secrets as well as many other secret operations. He also was one of the earliest communist party members and fought in the Russian Civil War in the early 1900’s. This book not only provides interesting information on Shumovskys life but also about Russian Communism and the different world figures during this time. The main story though is how Shumovsky along with other Russian spies infiltrated into United States universities and labs to uncover scientific secrets crucial for Soviet Russia’s survival as a nation.
The book does get very informative at times which can make some parts a bit boring, but Soviet history is a very tedious subject, and by knowing about the circumstances the country is in it becomes easier to understand the story. I liked some of the images, but on some pages there were really long informative footnotes about times in history that I thought were unnecessary. That was what I liked least about the book.
One of the major themes in the book is how the Soviets were constantly at a technological disadvantage as compared to the Americans. This created issues for Stalin and leaders to come, issues that Shumovsky set out to solve. Shumovsky was a very good student and also a very good pilot. In fact, one of my favorite parts of the book was when he and his father watched one of the first flight ever in his home town of Kharkov when he was eight. This moment in the book symbolizes the hopes and dreams of young boys during this time to be innovators and explorers. He was in the heart of many different violent conflicts as a youth in Romanov Russia, and his hardships helped me further understand what kind of struggle the Russian people were in under a monarch. By utilizing these two skills he was able to train other spies to learn about the United States atomic bombs and how they were dropped from a plane.
Stanislav Shumovsky was one of the most notable spies in Soviet history, but the book is not filled with daring missions like in an action movie. Although with only a few other partners, whom he trained, he was able to completely beat the FBI’s counterintelligence efforts. Instead he used his skills as a student and scientist to get an MIT education which helped him become a trustworthy individual in the United States. In the book he was described as a pionier for the “Scientist Spy”. Shumovsky also was described as hiding in plain sight which made him one of the best Russian intelligence officers. Before his life in intelligence he was a soldier in the Red Army during the Russian civil war. His knowledge of war tactics made him seem like a useful asset to the US.
Soviet Spy operations and tactics have been known to be closely guarded secrets, but this book uncovers them and the people behind them. This recurring theme of catching up to the United States in the book helped me understand why there was so much espionage going on during this time, and what the Soviets were actually looking for. Much of the book focuses on Stalin's ideas for the Soviet Union, and intelligence is how he achieved a lot of them.
This biography is not only about the interesting life of a spy, but also of a whole nation and its struggles. If you are interested in history, military, or science this book is probably a good fit for you.
The book does get very informative at times which can make some parts a bit boring, but Soviet history is a very tedious subject, and by knowing about the circumstances the country is in it becomes easier to understand the story. I liked some of the images, but on some pages there were really long informative footnotes about times in history that I thought were unnecessary. That was what I liked least about the book.
One of the major themes in the book is how the Soviets were constantly at a technological disadvantage as compared to the Americans. This created issues for Stalin and leaders to come, issues that Shumovsky set out to solve. Shumovsky was a very good student and also a very good pilot. In fact, one of my favorite parts of the book was when he and his father watched one of the first flight ever in his home town of Kharkov when he was eight. This moment in the book symbolizes the hopes and dreams of young boys during this time to be innovators and explorers. He was in the heart of many different violent conflicts as a youth in Romanov Russia, and his hardships helped me further understand what kind of struggle the Russian people were in under a monarch. By utilizing these two skills he was able to train other spies to learn about the United States atomic bombs and how they were dropped from a plane.
Stanislav Shumovsky was one of the most notable spies in Soviet history, but the book is not filled with daring missions like in an action movie. Although with only a few other partners, whom he trained, he was able to completely beat the FBI’s counterintelligence efforts. Instead he used his skills as a student and scientist to get an MIT education which helped him become a trustworthy individual in the United States. In the book he was described as a pionier for the “Scientist Spy”. Shumovsky also was described as hiding in plain sight which made him one of the best Russian intelligence officers. Before his life in intelligence he was a soldier in the Red Army during the Russian civil war. His knowledge of war tactics made him seem like a useful asset to the US.
Soviet Spy operations and tactics have been known to be closely guarded secrets, but this book uncovers them and the people behind them. This recurring theme of catching up to the United States in the book helped me understand why there was so much espionage going on during this time, and what the Soviets were actually looking for. Much of the book focuses on Stalin's ideas for the Soviet Union, and intelligence is how he achieved a lot of them.
This biography is not only about the interesting life of a spy, but also of a whole nation and its struggles. If you are interested in history, military, or science this book is probably a good fit for you.
September 13, 2025
I used to have a journal in school on which I sometimes wrote my random thoughts. This journal had a world map at the start, and I used to play a game of finding a country on the world map, which helped me remember many countries. However Russia, due to its vast land, always fascinated me because it has one of the largest geographical areas, even after the collapse of the Soviet Union. I once questioned my Pakistan Studies teacher to know why no one in the 21st century had ever tried to attack or occupy a piece of land from Russia and how they managed to protect such a huge area. He replied that Russia didn't even need to protect its border due to its geographical region and vast area. This was an incomplete answer, but at least I mustered the courage to ask a question to a government school teacher.
Anyways, I found the answer to my question in this book. In the 20th century, during Stalin's rule in the Soviet Union, he introduced a new concept of scientific espionage. They sent patriotic and hardworking students to top universities in the USA to study and leak scientific research. Stanislav Shumovsky was one of them, sent to MIT as a student but ended up as one of the greatest spies in Soviet Union history. Joseph Stalin believed that Russia was 50 years behind the West and needed to fill this gap with radical scientific reforms, with scientific espionage being one of them.
Shumovsky was an aviation engineer who helped Russia build state-of-the-art fighter jets and, in the end, a similar copy of the American B-29, officially known as Tu-4. This was perhaps one of the greatest achievements because the launch of the Tu-4 was a direct challenge to American air supremacy, as they were on the verge of challenging America's nuclear monopoly.
This was a lengthy novel, but I enjoyed every page of it. The answer I found in it was that when Germany attacked the Soviet Union, they couldn't bear the cold temperature. This is why the sir mentioned the edge of the geographical region. Similarly, it is extremely hard to maintain the supply line when you have such a vast area to occupy. For the 21st century, no one will bother the Russian bear, which is also a nuclear-armed state, because our great Putin Bahi won't take a minute to bring an apocalypse.
~Mohsin
Anyways, I found the answer to my question in this book. In the 20th century, during Stalin's rule in the Soviet Union, he introduced a new concept of scientific espionage. They sent patriotic and hardworking students to top universities in the USA to study and leak scientific research. Stanislav Shumovsky was one of them, sent to MIT as a student but ended up as one of the greatest spies in Soviet Union history. Joseph Stalin believed that Russia was 50 years behind the West and needed to fill this gap with radical scientific reforms, with scientific espionage being one of them.
Shumovsky was an aviation engineer who helped Russia build state-of-the-art fighter jets and, in the end, a similar copy of the American B-29, officially known as Tu-4. This was perhaps one of the greatest achievements because the launch of the Tu-4 was a direct challenge to American air supremacy, as they were on the verge of challenging America's nuclear monopoly.
This was a lengthy novel, but I enjoyed every page of it. The answer I found in it was that when Germany attacked the Soviet Union, they couldn't bear the cold temperature. This is why the sir mentioned the edge of the geographical region. Similarly, it is extremely hard to maintain the supply line when you have such a vast area to occupy. For the 21st century, no one will bother the Russian bear, which is also a nuclear-armed state, because our great Putin Bahi won't take a minute to bring an apocalypse.
~Mohsin
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2025
Fairly interesting and with some elements that are new to me, but far too long and repetetive. A few things rang alarm bells which did make me doubt the whole book, these mostly concerning the NKVD and Trotsky and the 30's terror. This is not a book about Stalin's terror and murder of tens of millions of Soviet citizens, but it is set against those times. The author makes no value judgement about Stalin - one the world's foremost mass murderers along with Hitler and Mao - but bizarrely describes Trotsky as a "quisling" the dictionary definition being a traitor who collaborates with an occupying enemy force! She also makes ludicrous assertions that Trotsky was in talks with Hitler's government about dividing up the Soviet Union - as if Hitler would negotiate with a true Bolshevik and Jew! She seem to take as face value "confessions" gained from "interrogations" by the NKVD thugs; seemingly oblivious of the ludicrous and farcical plots and schemes the NKVD victims were tortured into confessing to. As to Trotsky being part of a murder plot to kill the lovely Stalin and therefore justifying his own murder!!! The plots, schemes, nests of fascists, Trotskyists and millions of other wreckers and traitors only ever existed in Stalin's brain and his delusions were confirmed for him by Putin's predecessors the murderous thugs of the NKVD. I've read many books about the period and on Stalin and Trotsky but never heard such asseverations as these.
There's also a pretty ludricous figure of the number killed when the peaceful demonstrators in 1905 were fired on.
There's also a pretty ludricous figure of the number killed when the peaceful demonstrators in 1905 were fired on.
November 11, 2024
It was fascinating! The book gives the reader an in-depth perspective on how the U.S. was so easily infiltrated by Russian spies in the early to mid 1900's. Stanislav Shumovsky, the first Russian sent to spy on America, enrolled at MIT in the 1930's. But, he wasn't here just to get an education. He was on a long-term mission to steal American technological and scientific secrets. He wasn't the only Russian spy coming to America at that time either, but he was the one instrumental in paving the way for other spies from the Motherland by helping to lay the groundwork for an extensive spy network that would span the U.S. and place Russian spies, posing as students in most cases, in universities and laboratories around the country.
September 4, 2021
Loved it without any reservations. The author is a wonderful historian and writer. The book well written and easy to read. The content is just mind-blowing. For the spies, to not only gather the educational material to pass the knowledge to eager learners across the ocean, but also to excel in foreign schools, and help prevent potentially disastrous outcomes of war, is admirable to say the least.
There are many reviewers who are bashing the book mainly out of anger that the spies took advantage of the US education system and hospitality, but you need to realize that they didn't do it to harm the US, but rather to help themselves.
There are many reviewers who are bashing the book mainly out of anger that the spies took advantage of the US education system and hospitality, but you need to realize that they didn't do it to harm the US, but rather to help themselves.
February 22, 2020
Very researched information and I liked how what was going on during that time was intertwined with the spy ring. I was confused because I thought the book was going to be a story more about either Stalin or one main spy, Stan. Which Stan was in the book a lot, it just got confusing with all of the other spies. Definitely a good read for anyone interested in Russia. It also was a tad long at time.
March 12, 2020
Well anyway, I finished it; still wondering who this "SPY WHO CHANGED HISTORY" is supposed to be? Since the book is mainly just a dry history of the Soviet war effort during and leading up to WW2. As a history it was quite intriguing, but as a pitch I have no idea what the total was supposed to refer to. So overall a good effort, but unfortunately failed the brief due to that off-ball title. Good history, though.
April 18, 2020
This was a very interesting book about a ring of spies who care from Russia to MIT in the 30’s and operated in the US through WWII. The book helped me understand Russian history and aviation history more than I did before and gave an account of just how easy it is for foreigners in academia to steal secrets- something we need to be acutely aware of even today. My only complaint about the book was it’s length- it really could have used some editing.
May 29, 2021
Does feel like propaganda. Apparently, Stalin was not only a mastermind in strategy, a colossal planner but also a loving caring lieder… God dam! One does feel confuse by the facts of history, for if Stalin saw all that, why is results were so bad for so long a cost so many life's? Didn’t like the confusing about dates and stories. The author jumps from 40’s to 50’s and back to 30’ and then 50’ again… its confusing.
February 13, 2020
Actually 3.5, the book revolves around Soviet spies and especially Stanislav Shumovsky. Stalin's audacious attempt to steal the secret behind America's dominance in science and technology.
The book lacks cohesion, sometimes it becomes a hotchpotch. It would have better had she added about WW2 and COLD War era.
The book lacks cohesion, sometimes it becomes a hotchpotch. It would have better had she added about WW2 and COLD War era.
January 16, 2021
Very interesting book which gives unique insight into the espionage used by the Soviets to keep up with the US during the 30s and 40s (according to other reviews by people who have read more books on the topic). Really enjoyable read which touches on many great topics, perfect for someone who likes to be directed to fun corners of Wikipedia whilst reading a book.
June 8, 2022
I was quite bored while reading because the book documents espionage missions in great detail and I kept on losing track of all the important figures. However, this book is very well researched and in my opinion gives great insight into how espionage for technological advancement worked (and maybe still works?).
November 8, 2019
I LIKE THIS BOOK.
February 15, 2020
A detailed account of Soviet espionage in the 30s & 40s told from the Russian perspective. Espionage without which they wouldn’t have won the Second World War.
February 25, 2020
I could not get into this book, which is a shame as I was really looking forward to reading it. It's boring and plodding.
August 8, 2020
Definitely written by an academic. In need of some heavy, vicious editing. But otherwise the core topic was absolutely fascinating.
September 25, 2020
Industrial Espionage. An introductory book for readers interested in reading about espionage.
February 11, 2023
Got boring and repetitive
September 26, 2023
history teacher hated it therefore so do i
January 6, 2025
Good overview of the Soviet spy efforts in the USA starting in the 1930s.
August 23, 2020
Very good information, however the extent of the detail the author goes into feels like marginal and unnecessary. Book can be equally entertaining and profound in just 60% of its length.
Want to read
November 11, 2019Thank you for the opportunity to review this book as a giveaway recipient. I am excited to read it and will update my thoughts on this book soon!
January 1, 2022
A bit to slow to start, but an otherwise engaging, well researched account of Russian industrial espionage. Many of the anecdotes and events sound very familiar for those who've been covering China's industrial rise of recent years.
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