SPIES IN THE FAMILY : AN AMERICAN SPYMASTER, HIS RUSSIAN CROWN JEWEL, AND THE FRIENDSHIP THAT HELPED END THE COLD WAR
by Eva Dillon
Seventeen years after the early death of Paul Dillon (1997), his
daughter, Eva, along with her brothers, went over to the house they had
lived in sporadically in Virginia. They were there to clean it out and
what they found in the attic was very surprising. Cardboard boxes were
filled with letters, magazines and newspaper articles, pictures, and
mementos that covered the entire span of the family's life. One of the
magazines called George had an article about Eva's father. It
said that Dillon was "an unsung hero of the Cold War." While working for
the CIA, he was the case officer (handler) for a Soviet intelligence
officer. This Soviet spy named Dmitri Fedorovich Polyakov became the
most valuable asset the CIA had ever had. Of course, the spy's name was
not revealed in the article; only that he spied on the Russians for the
United States during a period of eighteen years. The fact that Eva's
father was so deeply involved with this top Soviet spy was earth-shattering. He obviously had secrets and never explained what was going
on to his children as they moved around from country to country. They
thought he was a U.S. State Department employee and never asked
questions. After finding this tremendous treasure trove of information,
Eva was determined to learn more about her father's life.
I never tire at reading books about spies, especially the ones who are traitors to the United States. Spies in the Family does
have these despicable scumbags written about here, but Polyakov was not
that kind of man. Normally the reason that people spy and give out
classified information to another country is because they are in need of
an excessive amount of money. Not so with Polyakov. He offered his
services to the United States because he was disgusted with what was
going on in the Soviet Union, the lies that were being told to the
citizens, the dislike he had for its leaders, and had a very favorable
impression of America. So he was never paid with any cash. Instead, the
CIA agents gave him small gifts for his children and to the Russian
employees Polyakov worked with. The very close relationship he had with
Dillon was a "match made in heaven." It was productive, they trusted one
another, were co-conspirators, and became friends. The intelligence
flowed to monumental proportions. And then it stopped because of a
betrayal.
Spies in the Family is a riveting story and if you're an
aficionado of espionage, you'll definitely want to read this book. Eva
Dillon is a terrific writer and was lucky to have had interviews with
many of her father's former colleagues at the CIA. She even got to
interview Polyakov's son, Alexander.
Not to be missed.
Very highly recommended.
Thursday, July 20, 2017
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