Synopses & Reviews
When Elizabeth Bentley slunk into an FBI field office in 1945, she was thinking only of saving herself from NKGB assassins who were hot on her trail. She had no idea that she was about to start the greatest Red Scare in U.S. history.
Bentley (1908-1963) was a Connecticut Yankee and Vassar graduate who spied for the Soviet Union for seven years. She met with dozens of highly placed American agents who worked for the Soviets, gathering their secrets and stuffing sensitive documents into her knitting bag. But her Soviet spymasters suspected her of disloyalty--and even began plotting to silence her forever. To save her own life, Bentley decided to betray her friends and comrades to the FBI. Her defection effectively shut down Soviet espionage in the United States for years.
Despite her crucial role in the cultural and political history of the early Cold War, Bentley has long been overlooked or underestimated by historians. Now, new documents from Russian and American archives make it possible to assess the veracity of her allegations. This long overdue biography rescues Elizabeth Bentley from obscurity and tells her dramatic life story.
Review
A valuable addition to the annals of spy lore. (Kirkus Reviews)
Review
This original biography about a complex personality is absorbing and well written. (Library Journal)
Review
"[Olmsted] seeks to understand the forces--personal, circumstantial, and ideological--that led Bentley into the shadowy world of espionage. Her even-handed approach recognizes that Bentley was both a truth-telling whistle-blower and a desperately troubled, self-aggrandizing liar at different times in her post-1945 career as informer. (Maurice Isserman, author of Which Side Were You On?: The American Communist Party During the Second World War)"
Review
Olmsted's thoughtful account restores Bentley to her rightful place and gives her all the credit--and blame--she deserves. (Publishers Weekly)
Review
A revealing and compassionate biography. (Booklist)
Review
"The first scholarly biography of Elizabeth Bentley, Kathryn Olmsted's book uses new archival material and revelations from Venona to demonstrate that despite her private demons and flaws, Bentley told the truth about Soviet espionage. An important study of a woman who helped change American history.""--Harvey Klehr, Emory University "
Review
Olmsted shows clearly that Bentley told the truth about Soviet espionage in high places. . . . [and] that Bentley was a truly disturbed, and disturbing, woman. (New York Times Book Review)
Synopsis
A biography of Elizabeth Bentley--New England schoolteacher, Soviet spy turned informant for the FBI, and key figure in the second Red Scare. Her decision to betray her friends and colleagues to the FBI effectively ended Soviet espionage in this country for many years.
Table of Contents
A valuable addition to the annals of spy lore. (
Kirkus Reviews) Olmsted's thoughtful account restores Bentley to her rightful place and gives her all the credit--and blame--she deserves. (
Publishers Weekly) Olmsted shows clearly that Bentley told the truth about Soviet espionage in high places. . . . [and] that Bentley was a truly disturbed, and disturbing, woman. (
New York Times Book Review) A revealing and compassionate biography. (
Booklist) This original biography about a complex personality is absorbing and well written. (
Library Journal)