Mole: The True Story of the First Russian Intelligence Officer Recruited by the CIA

by William Hood

Documents the espionage career of Pyotr Popov, the first agent recruited by the CIA within the Soviet Intelligence Service

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Espionage, Russia

317 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1982

About the author

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

Reviews

[Cold War Conversations Podcast · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry and somewhat dated true spy story.

The book revolves around Pyotr Semyonovich Popov, a major in Soviet intelligence, and his work for the CIA.

Whilst some of the content is interesting I found there was too much background history on both the characters involved and intelligence history.

Set at the time of “Harry Lime” in Vienna there’s some great vignettes but overall the story moves quite slowly and does read like a report rather than a factual account.

Good for an account of the early years of the cold war, not so good entertainment wise.

[Paul Vidich · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Hood, author of Mole, was CIA Operations Chief in Vienna in 1952 when he helped recruit Major Pyotr Popov, America’s first double agent in Soviet Military intelligence. Mole is Hood’s account of Popov’s four years working for the CIA, ending in 1956 when he was uncovered and returned to Moscow for interrogation in the cellars of Lubyanka Prison – kept alive to see if he could be doubled again, or executed. His fate was never known. This intimate, firsthand account of Cold War espionage is told with the mounting tension of a good spy novel. Hood shows the human side of betrayal – the motives, the resentments. “What type of government grinds down its own people,” Popov says of Stalinist Russia. Hood writes : “Popov ran breathtaking – in retrospect, almost insane, risks. Although he loved his wife and children he was hopelessly devoted to a randomly acquired mistress.” Popov betrayed Russian agents in Europe, described the Soviet’s new tactical nuclear weapons’ command structure, and gave the CIA a priceless look at the Soviet’s use of ‘illegals,’ spies embedded in the U.S. without diplomatic cover.

[Joseph Spuckler · Rating 3 out of 5]

The True Story of the First Russian Spy to Become an American Counterspy by William J Hood is the story of real spycraft following the end of WWII. Hood, a retired senior officer in the Central Intelligence Agency served during WWII with the army before transferring to the OSS. Later he stayed on with the CIA and served in Central Europe at the start of the Cold War.

Younger readers might find this pretty dry reading. Middle age readers might be disappointed when it doesn't read like a 1970s spy novel. What it does read like is more of "Dragnet" than a Starsky and Hutch or Miami Vice. As a CIA officer, I imagine that Hood wrote many reports in typical government fashion. The writing reflects this both in flavor and its procedural method. At times the reader may feel that he or she is reading long sworn statement.

The book revolves around Pyotr Semyonovich Popov, a major in Soviet intelligence, and his work for the CIA. It starts from the almost stereotype dropping a letter into Hood's car in offering information for money. What starts off as suspicion, grows into a major asset for the CIA. Popov was from peasant stock and did well under the Soviet system for himself, but felt that his family, as well as peasants in general, were mistreated under the Soviet system that was supposed to liberate them.

Mole takes the reader through the turning of the death of Popov. Hood goes through the process of espionage in the 1950s and gives plenty background information. This is a nuts and bolts book about what intelligence agencies actually did in the Cold War. Much like Dragnet, the names in the book have been changed to protect the innocent. Mole is a book that will take the middle aged or older reader back to a simpler time when your enemy was easily identifiable and the world was black and white, capitalist and communist, free and totalitarian, with very little between.

[Russ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love John LeCarre novels, especially the earlier Cold War books. I didn't know that this non-fiction version of those books existed. It's a well-written chronological account of the recruiting and handling of "Popov," possibly the most productive CIA agent in the Soviet Union in the late 50's, and Hood isn't afraid to digress into fascinating stories of other agents and defectors when it is necessary to provide context for the Popov story.

[Austin Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best case histories I’ve read, probably due to the fact that it was written by a career case officer.

[Graeme Hadwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an interesting book about the Cold War and some of its protagonists.

[Vheissu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by a U.S. national security officer. It is one of the very best books on spycraft, at least as it was practiced at the end of WWII, and a dramatic cat-and-mouse story that rivals anything ever written by John le Carré. I recommend it highly.

[Virginia Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

True story of the first Russian intelligence officer recruited by the CIA; 1982. Yes, I know this is an old book. But his stories are gripping; I still remember the title from when I read it in graduate school. Even then I couldn't put this book down, and I had a lot of required reading to do at the time as well. My husband read this book too; we both found his stories of espionage fascinating.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

As detailed as it is exciting, Mole is a story of a vital (in the eyes of the U.S.) espionage program happening behind the Iron Curtain, in the frigid middle days of the Cold War. Though it can be a bit overwhelming, it’s worth the methodical, thorough reading it requires.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only book to detail how a spy is recruited and handled from beginning to bitter end. An astonishingly candid and utterly unique instructional manual as well as a gripping history.

[Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this re-read. It was great having a copy for my e-reader. I recommend.