Product Description

Discloses Cold War actions we never knew about before from the FBI's innermost man in the Soviet Union.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1111243 in Books
• Published on: 1996-01-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

Amazon.com Review
With all the suspense and intrigue of a Cold War thriller, Operation Solo tells the remarkable and true story of Morris Childs, code named "Agent 58", who, for twenty-seven years, provided the United States with the Kremlin's innermost secrets during fifty-two clandestine missions to the Soviet Union, China, and Eastern Europe.

From Publishers Weekly
Although Morris Childs (1902-1991) was treated as a friend by Soviet rulers Khrushchev, Brezhnev and Andropov, this Chicago communist and onetime editor of the Daily Worker, the U.S. Communist Party newspaper, was an American spy working for the FBI. Barron (FBI Today) interviewed his wife, Eva Lieb Childs, and numerous FBI operatives to produce this remarkable true-life espionage story, which often reads like a spy thriller. According to Barron, Operation Solo (as the Childses' group was called) yielded intelligence that enabled Washington to exploit the Soviet Union's widening rift with China in the 1960s; their spying also helped Nixon and Kissinger forge ahead with diplomatic ties to Beijing. Born Moishe Chilovsky, near Kiev (he emigrated to America when he was nine), Childs also befriended Castro, Mao Tse-tung, East Germany's Walter Ulbricht and other Communist leaders. In 1987, Reagan awarded him a presidential medal. Photos.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Traditionally, it is the Central Intelligence Agency that carries out foreign espionage for the United States, but attention to the American Communist Party gave the FBI an opportunity to infiltrate communism's highest international levels. It is amazing that the FBI apparently managed to keep it a secret all these years. Morris Childs (1902-91) trained in Moscow as a Comintern agent and became a labor agitator in the Midwest during the Depression. He became the editor of the Communist Daily Worker in 1946 but fell out of favor with the American party next year. Suffering a heart attack, he became disillusioned at what communism had become and thus was willling, along with his brother, to cooperate with the FBI when approached in the mid-1950s. Childs was rehabilitated to become the American party's foreign minister and the main funnel for funds from abroad. He advised the Soviets on America and reported to Washington what the Communists were thinking. Childs received the Order of Lenin from the grateful Russians, and Leonid Brezhnev even hosted a banquet for his 75th birthday. It is interesting to read about the role of Childs in some of the great international events of the time. Perhaps most disturbing is the account of the aged and isolated Soviet leadership hysterically seeking signs that the entire world was going to attack in the mid-1980s. Barron (The KGB Today, Reader's Digest, 1983) was able to interview Childs and other principals in the case. Suitable for public and academic libraries.
Daniel K. Blewett, Loyola Univ. Lib., Chicago
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A story of ordinary people performing incredible feats.
As one who knew both Eva and Morris Childs prior to their deaths, I was pleased to see John Barron's published, for it finally provided exposure to one of the great spy stories of all times. I was the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Miami FBI office when I met the Childs in 1986, and maintained contact with them for the remainder of their lives. In particular, after the death of Morris, the FBI became the defacto family of Eva, and even, was at her bedside at the time of her death. The interesting thing about the Childs was they did not cooperate with the FBI for money, but due to a sense of betrayal by the Communists after they had devoted considerable time and energy to the utopian idea of the perfect Soviet society. But Morris went to great lengths one day to explain how his early conversion to communism did not mean he was anti USA. But after he saw the hypocrisy of world communism from an intimate insiders view, he then showed the same zeal in working for the FBI as he did for the early communists. I can attest to the fact Barron is accurate with his account, and even, has shown restraint at times. Operation Solo was the single greatest source of human source reporting available to the US during the time of the Cold War, and Barron's account of this incredible story is not only worthy reading for those with an interest in espionage, etc, but is a great reference source for historians with an interest in the Cole War.

A story of Courage and Devotion
Operation Solo tells the story of Morris Childs, a spy for the American government for almost thirty years. He was a dedicated communist in the 1930's. He even visited to the Soviet Union and was taught revolutionary tactics to be used in the violent overthrow of the United States government. By the late 1940's he began to understand the monster he was serving in Stalin and feeling extremely guilty about his activities. While still in the hospital recovering from heart problems, he was visited by two FBI agents who asked straight out if would like to be a spy. He agreed. As luck was have it, he was still a member in good standing with the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) so he was able to resume his activities in the Party with no problems. He eventually rose to second in command of the CPUSA.

Mr. Childs knew and was completely trusted by all the Post-Stalin leadership. One story shows how much he was trusted. On one trip to the Soviet Union, he was injured and had to have a finger amputated. He refused anesthetics because he was afraid he would blurt out he was a spy while under. Khrushchev thought he did this so he would not tell Soviet states secrets while under. Khrushchev made a speech in the Politburo congratulating Childs for his courage and had his finger buried Kremlin wall. From this position of trust, he was able Childs was able to obtain top-secret information for almost 30 years. This is only one of numerous improbable but true stories from the book, many of them life-threatening. An unparalleled story of courage and devotion.

SON OF AGENT
I am the son of the FBI agent Richard Hansen. I can attest to the secrecy of this operation by explaining how I learned about it. In 1997 I was looking through the new arrivals at my local library. I started leafing through this book and did a double take when I saw my dad's name. I checked out the book, rushed home, called my dad. Sure enough, he admitted that he was the agent in the book. It is an amazing testament to his fidelity that he did not speak of this operation(even after he retired), until this book came out.