as I discovered when I picked up, and glanced at, a book by that name
in a local bookstore.

The book was by, and about, John Cairncross, who admits to passing on
Ultra information to the Soviet Union during World War II. He claims
to have been one of the small fish - to whom the government paid
attention to distract from more important traitors.

He also claims to have been blackmailed on the basis of his youthful
left-wing political affiliations, which is what caused him to divulge
secrets.

He praises author Graham Green for standing by him in difficult times.

He notes that Ultra information he conveyed to the Soviet Union
enabled the Russians to win the crucial tank battle of Kursk (this
tank battle led to the Germans losing the initiative on the Eastern
Front, thus contributing to Allied victory in World War II).

Having only glanced at the book, declining to purchase it, I can't
tell you more about it, but I thought people ought to be aware of the
book - and not buy it by mistake, expecting a book about Hans-Thilo
Schmidt / Asche.

John Savard
http://members.xoom.com/quadibloc/index.html

On Fri, 23 Oct 1998 19:40:44 GMT,

As the Soviets were fighting on the same side, I would
have thought they were entitled to such information
anyway.

Well, a fortunate outcome, then!

Asche? The German who sold Enigma key material to
the French?

--
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:On Fri, 23 Oct 1998 19:40:44 GMT,
:
:>as I discovered when I picked up, and glanced at, a book by that name
:>in a local bookstore.
:>
:>The book was by, and about, John Cairncross, who admits to passing on
:>Ultra information to the Soviet Union during World War II. He claims
:>to have been one of the small fish - to whom the government paid
:>attention to distract from more important traitors.
:
:As the Soviets were fighting on the same side, I would
:have thought they were entitled to such information
:anyway.
:
 In principle, doubtless they were. However Russian security was known
to be poor, & heavily penetrated by the Germans. Hence anything told
to the Russians had to be assumed, would end up in German hands. Ultra
was just too valuable to risk this.

--  Dave Brooks    <http://www.iinet.net.au/~daveb>
PGP public key via <http://www.iinet.net.au/~daveb/crypto.html>, or servers

: As the Soviets were fighting on the same side, I would
: have thought they were entitled to such information
: anyway.

Some information from Ultra was passed to the Soviets through official
channels, and it was discounted. I really don't have the information at
hand to assess Mr. Cairncross' wartime activities; I am simply noting what
was in the book.

Between Mr. Cairncross' own story, which must naturally not be taken
uncritically, and the sensational claims of books such as John Costello's
"Mask of Treachery", which suggests it is likely that Mr. Cairncross would
have recruited _Alan Turing_, on the other hand, one is left not knowing
where to turn.

: Asche? The German who sold Enigma key material to
: the French?

Yes, that's correct. That is who I would have thought of as "The Enigma
Spy" upon first seeing a book with that title.

John Savard