‘Confessions’ spy book published – comments
After months in preparation, my latest book, Confessions of a CIA Spy in the Soviet Union, is finally out and available from Amazon. For many years I kept to one side the journal that the CIA requested me to keep, thinking that with the Soviet Union gone, no one would be interested in what it was like to live, or more accurately try to survive, daily life in that Communist country. With the current war in Ukraine and people of all factions and convictions splitting on whom to support and why, or having no interest in the matter under the impression that what happens over there has nothing to do with what happens over here, I thought this little book might be educational as well as entertaining. ‘Over there’ is a lot closer to ‘over here’ than it used to be. I am also finding that many young people today seem to have no idea what the Soviet Union was like, some even advocating similar conceptions to be implemented in this country. Such–to me–is simply astounding.
This is not strictly a political work, but in a sense an exploration of cultural anthropology by a trained anthropologist and historian of Russian and Islamic history. On the other hand, it was quite impossible to refrain from observations and conclusions after many surprising personal experiences and unexpected encounters. Perhaps my most surprising observation was not why the Soviet system did not collapse sooner than it did, but that the S.U. did not so much ‘collapse’ as simply fail to improve over 70 years, and its people simply could see no reason why they should continue with it. When the majority of the people learned the reality of their situation, the regime was doomed. Many people today also seem to equate modern Russia under Putin with the Soviet Union, believing there is little difference. I invite such people to read ‘Confessions’ first and then make the comparison.
Despite my best efforts, today I found several typos in the text. Having promptly corrected them, I hope Amazon does not postpone any deliveries as a result. I did the cover using Amazon’s new cover creator. It was clumsy but seems to have worked. As for the price, it’s just about impossible to put out a substantive book anymore without a $16 price. Even then, given the time and $ that it costs a publisher to do so doesn’t come even close to genuine compensation. There really is no profit in book publishing these days unless one sells tens of thousands of copies, which only the cellophane megacorps have the marketing resources to achieve, which does not include Yours Truly. I hope readers find my latest effort entertaining and informative.
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