I've long been interested in the history of the Cold War, but I've always focused on the politics of it all and paid little attention to the role of people. So now I decided it was time to do some reading into that area, and started with "Jinnik" by author Gideon D. Asche. A fantastic story true story from the (and too soon slipping from memory) Cold War. The author is a member of a group of operatives crossing various borders points on Europe's Iron Curtain. This book demonstrates so many of the critical factors in running an intelligence operation: the importance of selecting the right agent, the necessity of patience and letting some things slip away in favour of the big picture, the aspects of whom to trust or who is a spy, and the role of good old fashioned luck. The only flaw with the book is that is was to long, I believe it could have been shortened by a quarter. But, overall, an excellent and well-documented read.
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