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.
“The system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those who do not.”
Friedrich August von Hayek
Alexander walked down 7th Avenue for several minutes. The sheer number of people walking down the street was astounding. Many of them held small rectangular devices in their hands. Many of them also had strange ear coverings. Alexander continued to walk and soon found himself in Times Square. The flashing billboards and millions of illuminated pixels were dizzying.
Truly this was a remarkable civilization. The magnitude of their grandeur was unprecedented. Alexander could tell that this square was a shrine. As he had traveled to see the Oracle at Delphi so too had many thousands of people travel to this site. Was there something holy about it? What insights could be gathered from this glittering acropolis?
Amidst the jarring sounds of what must have been music Alexander gravitated towards a crowd that appeared to be watching something. As he drew closer he noticed a performer. Alexander watched the gyrations of the man’s body as the crowd cheered. Alexander was witnessing his first break dancing performance. He watched as the performer skipped around the rectangle formed by the crowd collecting money. Once he had secured the amount he was looking for he continued to perform. Alexander watched dispassionately as the performer spun on his head and then back before jumping onto his feet and concluding ...
