I Pledge Allegiance ...; The True Story of the Walkers: An American Spy Family
Sigrid Estrada (author photograph) New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. 438, [6] pages. Illustrations. A Note on Sources. Inscribed by author on fep. Howard Blum (born 1948) is an American author and journalist. Formerly a reporter for The Village Voice and The New York Times, Blum is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and the author of several non-fiction books, including the New York Times bestseller and Edgar Award winner American Lightning. In 1986, Blum began working as a reporter for the New York Times, where he earned two Pulitzer Prize nominations. Several of his books were non-fiction bestsellers, including Gangland, Wanted, The Gold of Exodus, and The Brigade: An Epic Story of Vengeance, Salvation, and WWII. Additionally, a number of his works have been optioned for film. Miramax Films make The Brigade into a major motion picture. Derived from a Kirkus review: Blum traces the career of manipulative John A. Walker Jr. through a 21-year tour in the US Navy and guilty plea to espionage charges in 1985. Walker found a home in the Navy, becoming a communications expert and rising to the rank of warrant officer. Sailor's pay, however, was not enough for a gamesman with an alcoholic wife, kids., and an expensive life style. In 1968, he walked into the Russian embassy with secrets to sell. The submariner betrayed a wealth of cryptographic and other highly classified material to the KGB. Walker also recruited his brother, son, and best friend as Soviet agents. The poorly recompensed group did incalculable harm to America's security, giving the USSR the means to decipher over one million military messages, plus vital information on weaponry, tactics, ship movements, and related matters. Walker's embittered ex-wife turned him in. Blum focuses on the spy ring's globe-trotting mastermind, his confederates, and members of their families--apparently ordinary people playing at a dangerous game whose stakes are beyond reckoning. Blum keeps the pot boiling briskly throughout. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: John Walker, KGB, Spy, Espionage, Naval Communications. Intelligence Operations, Aleksey Tkachenko, Rachel Walker
ISBN: 0671626140
[Book #77366]
Price: $45.00