Others Books

Recommended highly by Seymour Hersh, this book sells itself as "the inside story of the CIA's final showdown with the KGB".

Written by a former CIA covert operator in collaboration with a New York Times journalist, it is a pulse-racer of a read. This is not just because of the mad spy-versus-spy action sequences set in Moscow, but because of Bearden's version of the famous "bear trap" sprung on the Soviet Union by spooks once the Cold War turned hot in Afghanistan.

It differs from the "no-carb" version of the Afghan war story that has made its way round South Asia in whispers. It offers several moments of comic relief, stingers n' all.

And it maintains its narrative pace all the way to the rubble of the Berlin Wall (yes, there's a character called Charlie).

American intelligence, of course, is no longer what it was in those days, but this book cannot be dismissed as irrelevant for the simple reason that it isn't really about American intelligence. It's for those who ponder bigger ironies and paradoxes.

THE MAIN ENEMY
Milt Bearden and James Risen
Pages: xiv+560; Price: $28
Random House