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Breaking with Moscow
Book by Shevchenko, Arkady N.
390 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 3, 2020
This was supposed to be Shevchenko's autobiography and most autobiographies are boring but not Breaking With Moscow.
It was a FAST-PACED HIGH-TENSION THRILLER!
It was a FAST-PACED HIGH-TENSION THRILLER!
February 10, 2017
I've had this book on the shelf for years, finally getting around to reading it after finishing two histories of the KGB. Expecting mostly autobiography, I was pleasantly surprised that the author provides substantial background on post-war Soviet history and on the inner workings of the government and ruling party of the USSR, including many descriptions of the leading personalities of the establishment within which he himself rose to prominence.
While critical of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party, Shevchenko's analysis is, in the end, sympathetic, his account providing valuable insights into what was wrong with the Soviet system as it evolved in the years following Stalin's rise to power. Interestingly, he predicts Gorbachev's rise to power in this, a text written prior to its occurrence.
While critical of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party, Shevchenko's analysis is, in the end, sympathetic, his account providing valuable insights into what was wrong with the Soviet system as it evolved in the years following Stalin's rise to power. Interestingly, he predicts Gorbachev's rise to power in this, a text written prior to its occurrence.
March 4, 2015
کتاب بسیار زیبا و خواندنی خاطرات معاون اکراینی دبیرکل سازمان ملل متحد کورت والدهایم که حدود چهار دهه پیش به ابالات متحده پناهنده شد و همانجا هم درگذشت
February 19, 2023
My deepest satisfaction in writing this book came from being able, for the first time in my life, to express myself free of anyone's control or the necessity of remembering what was politically or ideologically acceptable. The United States has given me refuge and a new life, but this has been its greatest gift.
-Arkady N. Shevchenko, October 1984
About the time I was entering kindergarten, Arkady Shevchenko was becoming a best-selling superstar. The highest ranking Soviet diplomat to defect to the United States, he was making the east coast intellectual circuit, giving talks and educating Americans about life in the U.S.S.R. While, as is typical with history, the fall of the Soviet Union now seems inevitable, it certainly didn’t back in 1985. Gorbachev was relatively unknown in the United States, the Berlin Wall and East/West Germany were still a fact of life, and the Soviet-Afghanistan war was still only halfway through. I read a lot of history books, but rarely do I take in primary sources. I tend to let the professionals do that for me. But one thing I know, is that if you think what a Soviet diplomat had to say in 1984-85 no longer applies to US-Russia relations today, you would be very wrong.
It’s an interesting exercise reading a memoir of someone trying to justify leaving his family and everything behind. Was everything in the Soviet Union really that bad? We now know… probably worse for those not in the lofty position Shevchenko was in. But even so, I read the whole thing with a critical view, not convinced that a man capable of being a triple-spy will be totally honest. No matter the accuracy, reading first-hand descriptions of Soviet titans like Khrushchev, Brezhnev and Gromyko from someone who worked intimately with them for years was incredible. Worth picking the book up for that alone.
There is one aspect of the book that may turn off some readers: it gets into diplomatic minutiae. As in, deep dive into all the sub-characters of Soviet diplomacy and U.N. relations. People that may have seemed important to the author personally, but end up completely irrelevant to either his experience or his work. Akin to describing an idiot coworker at length. Possibly important to the C.I.A. in 1978, but definitely unimportant now. Except: he mentions Mikhail Gorbachev as the guy to look out for in the future, which was a good call.
Those looking for a John Le Carre style book of cold war intrigue will be slightly disappointed by about 2/3 of the book. It starts and ends with tense, real stakes spycraft and is quite entertaining. But the middle part would only interest Soviet buffs and political historians. And me, I guess. But I would argue that it would be a very important read for those looking to understand the Russia of today and how it came to be, and why many there look to the U.S.S.R. as the better version of themselves.
Also, some lessons for the United States can be learned here in regards to elitism and political power for powers sake.
In the clean, charming little town, I had a queer sensation passing the shopwindows in which a familiar, smiling image was prominently displayed -Joseph Stalin. In Kislovodsk, his picture had solidly occupied its accustomed places long before it began reappearing on Moscow's streets, taped to the windshields of taxicabs.
Whenever I spotted one of these memorials in a shopwindow, I could not help but feel a dread that was almost fatigue at the thought of a possible resurrection of a new form of Stalinism. After what my country had suffered at the hands of one of modern history's greatest mass killers, when confronted with the easy, routine acceptance of him in the shopwindows of Kislovodsk, I remembered the old saw that people often cling to the stones that crush them. My memories of the war and later, of friends and relatives who had suffered or who had simply disappeared under Stalin's rule, strengthened my resolve to leave.
-Arkady N. Shevchenko, October 1984
About the time I was entering kindergarten, Arkady Shevchenko was becoming a best-selling superstar. The highest ranking Soviet diplomat to defect to the United States, he was making the east coast intellectual circuit, giving talks and educating Americans about life in the U.S.S.R. While, as is typical with history, the fall of the Soviet Union now seems inevitable, it certainly didn’t back in 1985. Gorbachev was relatively unknown in the United States, the Berlin Wall and East/West Germany were still a fact of life, and the Soviet-Afghanistan war was still only halfway through. I read a lot of history books, but rarely do I take in primary sources. I tend to let the professionals do that for me. But one thing I know, is that if you think what a Soviet diplomat had to say in 1984-85 no longer applies to US-Russia relations today, you would be very wrong.
It’s an interesting exercise reading a memoir of someone trying to justify leaving his family and everything behind. Was everything in the Soviet Union really that bad? We now know… probably worse for those not in the lofty position Shevchenko was in. But even so, I read the whole thing with a critical view, not convinced that a man capable of being a triple-spy will be totally honest. No matter the accuracy, reading first-hand descriptions of Soviet titans like Khrushchev, Brezhnev and Gromyko from someone who worked intimately with them for years was incredible. Worth picking the book up for that alone.
There is one aspect of the book that may turn off some readers: it gets into diplomatic minutiae. As in, deep dive into all the sub-characters of Soviet diplomacy and U.N. relations. People that may have seemed important to the author personally, but end up completely irrelevant to either his experience or his work. Akin to describing an idiot coworker at length. Possibly important to the C.I.A. in 1978, but definitely unimportant now. Except: he mentions Mikhail Gorbachev as the guy to look out for in the future, which was a good call.
Those looking for a John Le Carre style book of cold war intrigue will be slightly disappointed by about 2/3 of the book. It starts and ends with tense, real stakes spycraft and is quite entertaining. But the middle part would only interest Soviet buffs and political historians. And me, I guess. But I would argue that it would be a very important read for those looking to understand the Russia of today and how it came to be, and why many there look to the U.S.S.R. as the better version of themselves.
Also, some lessons for the United States can be learned here in regards to elitism and political power for powers sake.
In the clean, charming little town, I had a queer sensation passing the shopwindows in which a familiar, smiling image was prominently displayed -Joseph Stalin. In Kislovodsk, his picture had solidly occupied its accustomed places long before it began reappearing on Moscow's streets, taped to the windshields of taxicabs.
Whenever I spotted one of these memorials in a shopwindow, I could not help but feel a dread that was almost fatigue at the thought of a possible resurrection of a new form of Stalinism. After what my country had suffered at the hands of one of modern history's greatest mass killers, when confronted with the easy, routine acceptance of him in the shopwindows of Kislovodsk, I remembered the old saw that people often cling to the stones that crush them. My memories of the war and later, of friends and relatives who had suffered or who had simply disappeared under Stalin's rule, strengthened my resolve to leave.
December 8, 2021
3.5 stars [Memoir]
(W: 2.96, U: 2.71, T: 4.25)
Exact rating: 3.31
#25 of 46 in genre
#23 of 34 on Communism
The memoir of the highest-ranking Soviet to ever defect, an Undersecretary General of the United Nations. Part personal reminiscences, part diplomatic career, part espionage as he plans his defection.
Writing: 2.96 (lex 4.25, sem 3.5, syn 2.75, dyn 2.75, pac 2.5, l&o 2)
The prose is excellent, especially for a second-language speaker, and Shevchenko often includes transliterated Russian of his concepts. He does tend to ramble (thus the scores for pacing, and linearity and organization), but otherwise has decent flow. I did stop reading it for a few years, and picked up its second half recently.
Use: 2.71
2.5 for a largely diplomatic memoir of an era past; 2.63 for its general quality as a memoir; 3 for Shevchenko's access to higher Soviet infrastructure.
Truth: 4.25
An excellent and granular depiction of the failings of Soviet Communism, from a loyal Soviet who couldn't take the totalitarian oppression any longer. An almost total absence of the crucial element of Atheism in Soviet Communism was one element that kept this from a 4.5 rating.
Takeaway
Recommended only to those interested in the Soviets, the 1970s, or Communism. Good fare for those folks. Probably too dense for others.
(W: 2.96, U: 2.71, T: 4.25)
Exact rating: 3.31
#25 of 46 in genre
#23 of 34 on Communism
The memoir of the highest-ranking Soviet to ever defect, an Undersecretary General of the United Nations. Part personal reminiscences, part diplomatic career, part espionage as he plans his defection.
Writing: 2.96 (lex 4.25, sem 3.5, syn 2.75, dyn 2.75, pac 2.5, l&o 2)
The prose is excellent, especially for a second-language speaker, and Shevchenko often includes transliterated Russian of his concepts. He does tend to ramble (thus the scores for pacing, and linearity and organization), but otherwise has decent flow. I did stop reading it for a few years, and picked up its second half recently.
Use: 2.71
2.5 for a largely diplomatic memoir of an era past; 2.63 for its general quality as a memoir; 3 for Shevchenko's access to higher Soviet infrastructure.
Truth: 4.25
An excellent and granular depiction of the failings of Soviet Communism, from a loyal Soviet who couldn't take the totalitarian oppression any longer. An almost total absence of the crucial element of Atheism in Soviet Communism was one element that kept this from a 4.5 rating.
Takeaway
Recommended only to those interested in the Soviets, the 1970s, or Communism. Good fare for those folks. Probably too dense for others.
March 16, 2009
This book is for those who are interested in three things, and really it is a good resource for these three things.
If you are interested in the UN and how it works
Soviet International Relations Mechanisms
and counter-espionage/defecting situations.
If you are even remotly interested in these, you should pick up this book. The information is thick, and is obviously writen by someone who is not used to writing for an American audience so at times it seems a little slow and hard to read. But the personal details and stories remind me of stories like First Circle or War and Peace in their personal style and their intriguing inner conflicts.
If you are not interested in any of the three things that I mentioned before, DO NOT AT ALL PICK UP THIS BOOK. I personally love this stuff, so it was a great book for me. For others it could be very boring.
If you are interested in the UN and how it works
Soviet International Relations Mechanisms
and counter-espionage/defecting situations.
If you are even remotly interested in these, you should pick up this book. The information is thick, and is obviously writen by someone who is not used to writing for an American audience so at times it seems a little slow and hard to read. But the personal details and stories remind me of stories like First Circle or War and Peace in their personal style and their intriguing inner conflicts.
If you are not interested in any of the three things that I mentioned before, DO NOT AT ALL PICK UP THIS BOOK. I personally love this stuff, so it was a great book for me. For others it could be very boring.
April 30, 2012
Ooooooo… spies! Commies! Defectors! The good ol' days! This is the autobiography of the highest ranking Soviet ever to defect to the U.S. Shevchenko was an undersecretary of the U.N. who let the U.S. know much about what was going on diplomatically behind the iron curtain. He defected at a time when the U.S. was waking up to the threat of the Soviets again. Our country had gone through détente, thinking we had to figure our how to coexist with our polar opposite. Shevchenko knew how broken and evil the Soviet system was and exposes much in this book, after years and years of spying for the U.S. Ah the good ol' days.
As Jimmy Buffet says: "Roadside bombers and tsunamis/ Oh god how I miss those commies/ No one seems to play fair anymore."
As Jimmy Buffet says: "Roadside bombers and tsunamis/ Oh god how I miss those commies/ No one seems to play fair anymore."
July 26, 2014
Interesting first hand account of a diplomat during the cold war. The portrayal of Soviet life and politics, and the character descriptions of prominent Soviets, which is what the bulk of this book consists of, were particularly interesting. For those looking for a cloak and dagger type account, this is not for you. The details of Mr. Shevchenko's spying activities are not described in much detail, and are, for the most part, not overly interesting. An interesting read overall.
March 21, 2016
This book was so hard for me to get through. I love Russia and always find it interesting, but this just wasn't. The first and last parts were good, the only parts that really dealt with his defecting and spying, but the huge chunk in the middle just talked about his rise in Soviet politics and I just couldn't get into it. I appreciate his story and all, but it just wasn't a book for me.
July 11, 2013
I read this a long time ago. I just remember enjoying it immensely. I especially recall liking the part that explains the Soviet's role and their warped mindset surrounding the shooting down of that Korean airline that drifted into their air space.
March 6, 2017
Fascinating account of a high ranking defector. What really makes this volume interesting is not the actual defection, but the background on Soviet society and leaders, what life was like, how decisions were made, etc. Strongly recommend.
September 12, 2019
Post-war Soviet history is a rear thing that writer write. This is good as well as a bad thing. it's my personal opinion, he just gives the things to the reader that they want to read. Working of UN and others. the writer may miss some parts.
June 12, 2020
It brings a rare inside point of view of the URSS, from a person who trully believed the system and had its ideals broken in front of him while being himself part of it.
As he writes it as memoir, some passages tend to be a little boring for the reader, but the overall feeling was educarional
As he writes it as memoir, some passages tend to be a little boring for the reader, but the overall feeling was educarional
February 17, 2010
Fascinating story of a high level defection during the Soviet era.
June 7, 2021
A fascinating book for any one interested in mid-century global politics, the inner workings of Soviet foreign policy and the United Nations, and the general mindset in Soviet society during the Brezhnev era. Shevchenko paints a very detailed picture of the inflexibility and close-mindedness that pervaded Soviet leadership at the time, as well as the resigned acceptance of living in a broken system shared by most, if not all, Soviet citizens. Written during that brief window when Chernenko came to power, Shevchenko's analysis of where the Soviet Union would be headed is generally correct - although even he couldn't predict how quickly things would unravel once a crack appeared in the old guard's firm grip on power.
There's also a pretty compelling spy drama bookending all that analysis, as Shevchenko shares his journey from diplomat to informant to asylee. I have no doubt that details were changed and omitted in the retelling, but he doesn't hide the fact that his defection came at a very high price for himself and his family.
There's also a pretty compelling spy drama bookending all that analysis, as Shevchenko shares his journey from diplomat to informant to asylee. I have no doubt that details were changed and omitted in the retelling, but he doesn't hide the fact that his defection came at a very high price for himself and his family.
March 25, 2023
When I purchased this book on Amazon back in December of ‘22 it was a spur of the moment buy based on a snippet of something I read on Wikipedia.
I could not have imagined the emotional roller coaster it would take me on. It has been a long time since a book has made me spill tears of joy.
It has made me even more truly grateful of the blessings of freedom and liberty I enjoy naturally here in the United States that so many others around the world are deprived of as a matter of course.
Reading Arkady Shevchenko’s account of his life and his defection was incredible, enlightening, encouraging, and aroused in me a new sense of pride. Though Arkady has shuffled off this mortal coil I am proud to call him a countryman and I am glad that he was able to achieve what so few people in history have ever found. Liberty.
I could not have imagined the emotional roller coaster it would take me on. It has been a long time since a book has made me spill tears of joy.
It has made me even more truly grateful of the blessings of freedom and liberty I enjoy naturally here in the United States that so many others around the world are deprived of as a matter of course.
Reading Arkady Shevchenko’s account of his life and his defection was incredible, enlightening, encouraging, and aroused in me a new sense of pride. Though Arkady has shuffled off this mortal coil I am proud to call him a countryman and I am glad that he was able to achieve what so few people in history have ever found. Liberty.
October 17, 2023
Super interesting, especially if you're old enough to remember the Cold War...and/or have just binged The Americans. This is a full autobiography that goes beyond his defection to Shevchenko's childhood, education, and personal development. There are interesting bits about the Russian people's reactions to learning of the extent of Stalinism, living in a totalitarian society, and up close views on mid-20th century Soviet leaders and a brief preview of Gorbachev.
Other chapters focus on the USSR's relationships with the UN, Africa and the US (of course), Cuba, Israel, and other countries. Some of those get a bit bogged down. If you skim but also watched the Americans with interest, don't miss chapter 21 which is all about the KGB.
Dramatic action in the start and finish.
Other chapters focus on the USSR's relationships with the UN, Africa and the US (of course), Cuba, Israel, and other countries. Some of those get a bit bogged down. If you skim but also watched the Americans with interest, don't miss chapter 21 which is all about the KGB.
Dramatic action in the start and finish.
August 30, 2022
Written by and about a Soviet diplomat who served through the late 1970’s. Insightful/illuminating content; numerous parallels to global politics today. Should be required reading for American federal employees namely congressional members, diplomats, and FBI.
February 3, 2024
Meh.... The beginning and the end were decent, the middle part is rather tedious. All things considered, I was left a bit conflicted about his character, but not engrossed enough to spend much time considering it further.
September 12, 2022
I thought this would be an extremely dated and self-serving work but it remains extremely interesting and historically valuable artifact of the Cold War.
July 23, 2013
Arkady Shevchenko is a very smart guy who knows exactly what the reader wants to know about. He gives a fascinating look into the inner workings of the USSR from his individual life growing up, moving up in the government, and major events throughout the Cold War from the Russian perspective. He never dwells on any one topic for too long and he offers up all kinds of juicy details in a very captivating way.
I had previously read extensively about the Cold War and the USSR, but this book shed so much light on these topics that I would consider it to be almost essential reading for anyone interested in these subjects.
I had previously read extensively about the Cold War and the USSR, but this book shed so much light on these topics that I would consider it to be almost essential reading for anyone interested in these subjects.
November 3, 2016
Interesting book in which the highest ranking defector of the Soviet Union to explains why he did it. A bit lengthy and a hard read at times but still the entertaining stuff of real history that I like.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews