I have enjoyed the previous books I read by Ben Macintyre. I picked this one up not knowing anything about Ursula Kuczynski. She grew up to be a very successful spy for the Soviet Union and received the code name Agent Sonya. I looked forward to reading this. Shortly after I began reading I was hoping I would read about when she would be caught.
Ursula lived a remarkable life. Born in Germany and coming of age in the 1920’s she was exposed to a world of turmoil. She became a committed communist early in life and would not be deterred from her ideology.
She traveled the world first leaving Germany for the United States partially to avoid marriage. She became a member of the Communist Party of the United States. After a stint in the USA she returned to Germany and married the man she had left behind. His career took them to China where her career as a spy began. From there she traveled to the Soviet Union for additional training and continued to work as a spy throughout Europe.
I found it remarkable how her commitment to communism didn’t falter as she spent time in Moscow during the great purges. Many of the people she worked with were falsely accused and arrested. She avoided that fate and continued to spy for the Soviet Union.
The dichotomy between her family life and spy life was portrayed well. Her life began before the Bolshevik revolution and it ended after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Overall this was a good book. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Thomas Aquinas is credited as one of the greatest proponents of natural law. During his time in Cologne he was taught by Albertus Magnus. Magnus used the teachings of Aristotle in his mentorship of Thomas Aquinas.
Samuel Adams believed in American Independence from Great Britain. He is one of the most well know Son's of Liberty. On August 1, 1776 he gave a speech to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
“It is indeed marvelous what benefits Vladimir conferred upon the Russian land by its conversion. But we, Christians though we are supposed to be, do not honor him as this benefaction deserves. For if he had not converted us, we should now be a prey to the devil’s crafts, as were our perished ancestors.”
The Russian Chronicler
Saint Petersburg, Russia, Thursday 2:00AM.
The streets were nearly empty as the night’s freeze started to really settle in. The season was changing as fall was quickly ceding to winter. The temperature had plunged well below freezing and no self respecting person would be walking the streets at an hour like this.
However there were still places where entertainment could be found. Those few souls who happened to be roaming streets were most likely stumbling toward home after a night of drinking and dancing at places like the Neon Bar or the Fish Fabrique, where the techno beats would shatter the silence of the night as patrons exited. For ordinary people this was the top of the line. The most exclusive and exotic night of entertainment required an invitation to the Octyaberskya Enbankment.
Up to 125 invitations would be sent out on a given night and there were another 25 regulars who required no invitation. Once you reached this stratosphere the evenings entertainment was complimentary. The building had no name and those who had been inside simply referred ...
