Minnick, Wendell L. Spies and Provocateurs: A Worldwide Encyclopedia of
Persons Conducting Espionage and Covert Action, 1946-1991. Jefferson NC:
McFarland, 1992. 310 pages.
Now that the Cold War is over, an encyclopedia has been compiled of
those who were accused of betraying their national trust. (A similar effort
in NameBase is "Who's Who in Espionage" by Ronald Payne and Christopher
Dobson (1984), which isn't nearly as comprehensive and also suffers from
an Anglophilic bias.) Wendell Minnick has drawn extensively from public
sources -- such as Facts on File (1946-1991) and the other 277 entries in
his bibliography -- to present alphabetical descriptions of 627 accused or
convicted spies from every corner of the globe. These descriptions range
from a couple of sentences to a couple of pages in length, along with a
listing of the major sources for each. In the course of these descriptions
some 300 additional names are mentioned in passing, so the complete index
in back is a welcome feature. A 19-page chronology is also included.
Who needs this book? Cold War historians with an interest in
international espionage can use it to quickly ascertain what the public
record offers on included individuals. For those who are investigating
domestic covert activities (assassinations, political repression, etc.) it
is less useful, since the emphasis is on those who were caught in the
struggle between nations.
ISBN 0-89950-746-8
Extract the names from this source
Back to search page