The Spy Who Got Away: The Inside Story of Edward Lee Howard, the Man who Betrayed His Country's Secrets and Escaped to Moscow

by David Wise

In spring 1983, Edward Howard was preparing for his first overseas posting as a CIA case officera tour in the agency's most sensitive station, Moscow. In June 1986, he became the first CIA officer to defect to the Soviet Union. Wise, a frequent writer on intelligence issues and co-author (with Thomas B. Ross) of The Invisible Government , interviewed Howard (in Budapest), his family, co-workers, and American counterintelligence officers to prepare this compelling analysis of events and mostly CIA bungles that led to a major U.S. intelligence disaster. The remarkable, clearly told story reveals intriguing snippets of the workings of American intelligence.

Genres: History, Espionage, Russia, Nonfiction, Biography, Military Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published May 12, 1988

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

From Wikipedia:
«David Wise (May 10, 1930 – October 8, 2018) was an American journalist and author who worked for the New York Herald-Tribune in the 1950s and 1960s, and published a series of non-fiction books on espionage and US politics as well as several spy novels. His book The Politics of Lying: Government Deception, Secrecy, and Power (1973) won the George Polk Award (Book category, 1973), and the George Orwell Award (1975).»

Most of his books were non-fiction examinations of espionage and U.S. politics. According to his obituary in the New York Times, “He also wrote three spy novels, which were praised for their insight and authority.” Those novels include:
• Spectrum, 1981
• The Children's Game , 1983
• Samarkand Dimension , 1987

Reviews

[Matthew Kresal · Rating 4 out of 5]

How does a former Peace Corps member and aide worker turned CIA case officer not only get run out of the agency but end up both accused of giving information to its Cold War adversary before turning up in Moscow, proclaiming his innocence? David Wise's 1988 book offers an immensely readable account of the unlikely story surrounding Edward Lee Howard and how, in "the year of the spy," he managed to become the first CIA officer to defect behind the Iron Curtain. Drawing upon interviews with Howard, his wife Mary, and dozens of their friends and colleagues, as well as FBI and CIA officials involved with the case, Wise offers up a portrait of an intelligence officer in the making. One who was sent into the cold by the agency and who could very well have taken revenge before fleeing the country.

Published more than thirty years ago, some aspects of the book have now dated (and deserve reexamination in light of the revelations of Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen). All the same, Wise's work remains a worthy first stop for anyone delving into the Howard Affair. Truth, after all, is stranger than fiction and proves, as Tom Clancy (who has a novel make a cameo in this story) once said, that the only difference between fact and fiction is that fiction has to make sense.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the more fascinating spy thrillers I've ever read, even more so because it is non-fiction. Extremely well reported and written. The author acknowledges that there are necessarily gaps in the story he was able to tell, and that he knew he was being lied to during certain interviews, and that he probably was being lied to in others and didn't know. That's about all you can ask for from a difficult-to-report book-length treatment of one of the most odd and controversial security breaches in U.S. history. I haven't read any of Wise's other books yet, but now I plan to see if they're all as strong as this one.

[Boris · Rating 2 out of 5]

An easy read on an interesting Subject.
Unfortunately due to the very nature of counterintelligence agencies the information gathered in the book can be confirmed by one sourced and almost discredited immediately by another.
The excessive use of footnotes seemed more of a distraction and could have been easily incorporated into the story.
The author does tend to repeat his points over and over again made me wonder if he was fleshing out the word count.
The Story of Ed Howard is an interesting one but I think a more updated indepth version of the story would be a better read.
two stars.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting book. But there were parts where I thought it was innaccurate given the information that's been declassified and clarified over time.

[Janelle Hammonds · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everything was well recorded, citied, and explained, but for a book about the first CIA defector to the KGB, it put me to sleep. Non-fiction are not my cup of tea, I prefer historical fiction: a story based on true events but told with a bit of flare. Reading this though, I can to a certain extent understand Howard defecting, because he felt betrayed by the lie detector test mess up, but also he was never a true patriot, he just craved to be useful and appreciated for it, so when he could not longer achieve that in the US, he used his former connections to be productive for the opposite side.

[Stephen Kutzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book which was first published 31 years ago, soon after the event happened, is still a very interesting story. The book is just as relevant as it was then considering that the relationship between the United States and Russia isn’t much different from when it was the Soviet Union. Definitely an informative book worth reading.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wunderbar spannend

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read.

As always, the murky world of espionage leaves many questions unanswered -

1. Yurchenko defects to the US and then defects back to Soviet union. was he a plant in the US or was he really fed up in the US.

2. Howard says he gave the soviets, secret information only after defecting. is that true or did he give them secrets many years early on.

3. Howard was killed in an accident at his home. was it really the case or did the KGB kill him.

[Dr. Phoenix · Rating 4 out of 5]

An outstanding account of the life and travails of Edward Lee Howard the first American CIA agent to defect to the Soviet Union in 1986. Well researched, documented and written. It is both a sad and fascinating tale. The story covers his life from a rapid and successful rise to a cataclysmic descent into tragedy.

Quite sadly it appears that Ed might have been a victim of his own eventual lack of utility. He was reported to have fallen down the flight of stairs in his Dacha outside Moscow in 2002, an unlikely story. However the truth like so much in espionage will never be known or made public.

An excellent tale well worth reading.

[Tekla · Rating 4 out of 5]

True story. Written in a very non-fiction style, carefully laying out the events backed by much investigation and interviews by the author. Somehow this almost dry telling made it even more engaging and astounding because I was so aware that it was something that really happened.

Also, wow, people are stupid. It is absolutely astounding the mistakes that were made.