ISBN10: 1849541086, ISBN13: 9781849541084, [publisher: Biteback Publishing] Hardcover First Edition SMERSH, acronym of the Russian phrase Death to Spies, is primarily known to readers as James Bonds sinister opponent in Ian Flemings novels. Yet SMERSH was a real organization and just as diabolical as its fictional counterpart. No information was available on this organization until the fall of the Soviet Union, and its importance to WWII history is almost completely unknown to scholars and history readers alike. Ostensibly a military counterintelligence organization dedicated to fighting Nazis, SMERSH spent considerable time and effort terrifying its own, including writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who was arrested for writing to a fellow officer. Its activities often strayed into the political sphere, exemplified by the arrests of many political leaders and foreign diplomats in Eastern Europe, including the famous rescuer of Hungarian Jews, Raoul Wallenberg, at the end of WWII.While it was formally part of the Defence Commissariat, SMERSH was not under the control of the military hierarchy. In reality it was a secret service independent of the other Soviet security organizations. Its head, Viktor Abakumov, a shadowy and powerful figure whose biography is revealed here for the first time, reported directly to Joseph Stalin on a daily basis.Based on a huge number of documents and memoirs available only in Russian, the book details all the known activities of SMERSH its c ...

ISBN10: 1849541086, ISBN13: 9781849541084, [publisher: Biteback Publishing] Hardcover Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day.
[Rossendale, LANCS, United Kingdom] [Publication Year: 2012]
Show/Hide image

ISBN10: 1849541086, ISBN13: 9781849541084, [publisher: Biteback Publishing] Hardcover
[Almere, Netherlands] [Publication Year: 2011]
Show/Hide image

Biteback Publishing, Date: 2011. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. 1st edition, 1st printing 2011. Slight rubbing to edges of dust-jacket, now protected using removable clear wrap, otherwise in excellent condition. Next day dispatch by Royal Mail in sturdy, recyclable packaging. 1000's of satisfied customers! Please contact us with any enquiries. 2011. Biteback Publishing ISBN 1849541086 9781849541084 [GB]

ISBN10: 1849541086, ISBN13: 9781849541084, [publisher: Biteback Publishing] Hardcover First Edition 1st edition, 1st printing 2011. Slight rubbing to edges of dust-jacket, now protected using removable clear wrap, otherwise in excellent condition. Next day dispatch by Royal Mail in sturdy, recyclable packaging. 1000's of satisfied customers! Please contact us with any enquiries.
[Herefordshire, United Kingdom] [Publication Year: 2011]