The Storm Birds: Soviet Postwar Defectors

Based on research that includes interviews with several defectors, Brook-Shepherd tells the sagas of the 12 most prominent Soviet diplomatic and military-intelligence officers who have sought asylum in the West since 1945. Family background, character and motivation for defection are the author's primary interests. Yuri Rastvorov, for example, regarded defection as a way to fulfill his hedonistic dreams (as well as escape his detested wife); Oleg Penkovsky acted from an ambition to become the greatest spy in history. Brook-Shepherd ( The Storm Petrels ) argues convincingly that Penkovsky, suspected by experts in the West of being a KGB ``stool pigeon,'' was a genuine defector. Gracefully written and distinguished by its clarity of thought, the book speculates little and documents much. (Aug.)