Tower of Secrets: A Real Life Spy Thriller

Tower of Secrets is a great book. It is written by a former KGB officer who became disillusioned with communism and defected to the United States with his family. The author is at his best when discussing his area of specialty, which were electronic countermeasures. First published in 1993, it provides the first glimpse I have found in mass-market literature of the technology known as TEMPEST which is the ability to pick up and read transient electro-magnetic emissions from electronic devices. It sheds a lot of light on the subject of secure communications. One of the author's points of emphasis is that Humans are always the weakest link in any security system. I enjoyed his revelations on the techniques and tactics of the Chinese Intelligence services. Their abilities appear to be underrated by the West. His pointers on surveillance and counter surveillance are outstanding and should be read by anyone concerned with these fields. My only criticisms are in the amount of detail he provided on how he became disillusioned with the communist party. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in intelligence matters.

The author is a scientist/engineer with a true literary gift; Sheymov has taken a real-life experience and related it with the excitement of a Blackford Oakes adventure. This is the story of a man who - in the words of Milovan Djilas - "thought his way out of communism", which is made even more amazing given his privledged upbringing and lack of access to anything to which to compare communism. Sheymov risked everything (family, friends, career, life-style, life) in the belief that whatever was out there had to be better for his family. One can only hope that our government is still listening to his astute insight into the workings of the Russian political mind. He predicted that when the communistic system collapsed, Russia would flirt with democracy but then make a sharp reversal and return to Stalinism. The first part of the prediction has come true; hopefully, Sheymov can contribute to our country's foriegn policy to try to prevent the latter.

This exciting book should be required reading in our institutes of learning. We in the west take our freedom for granted, and it is very good for us to see the way of life in countries without freedom, and to witness the extraordinary lengths some people will go to in order to achieve that freedom. Enough of the deadly, depressing books that we are required to read in high school (D.O.A.S. for one)! This is an an excellent book!

If you enjoy reading spy thrillers than this is the book for you!!! Victor Sheymov gives his readers a detailed, but fascinating account of his life and ultimately his defection from the KGB. As a child growing up during the heart of the Cold War, I was (and still am) intrigued by "The Great Enemy". Having traveled to Russia and some of the surrounding States (while they were still the 'Soviet Union') I have seen first hand the hardships people there face daily, and realize how difficult it must have been for Victor. This book is one of the best I have read. Pick it up and you won't be able to put it down. From Victor's beginnings in the KGB, his surprisingly speedy climb through it's ranks and the culmination with his appointment to one of the most sensetive posts, the reader has a picture, never before seen in such detail, of just how corrupt the KGB really was, and how that ultimately leads to it's downfall. This is just a great book!!!! I Hope Vi! ctor and his family are doing well....

This bood is awesome. I have read more than half of the book as of now. I like the way it is written, and the insight the author provides for the readers about the KGB. Some of the things though are hard to prove though. So it is hard to see whether or not some points were exagerrated in the book or not. Overall the book I like a lot. Peace!