
Sleeper Agent
The Atomic Spy in America Who Got Away
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Narrated by:
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Laural Merlington
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By:
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Ann Hagedorn
About this listen
This must-listen book tells the chilling story of an American-born Soviet spy in the atom bomb project in World War II, perfect for fans of The Americans.
George Koval was born in Iowa. In 1932, his parents, Russian Jews who had emigrated because of anti-Semitism, decided to return home to live out their socialist ideals. George, who was as committed to socialism as they were, went with them. There, he was recruited by the Soviet Army as a spy and returned to the US in 1940. A gifted science student, he enrolled at Columbia University, where he knew scientists soon to join the Manhattan Project, America's atom bomb program. After being drafted into the US Army, George used his scientific background and connections to secure an assignment at a site where plutonium and uranium were produced to fuel the atom bomb. There, and later in a second top-secret location, he had full access to all facilities, and he passed highly sensitive information to Moscow.
The ultimate sleeper agent, Koval was an all-American boy who had played baseball, loved Walt Whitman's poetry, and mingled freely with fellow Americans. After the war, he got away without a scratch. It is indisputable that his information landed in the right hands in Moscow. In 1949, Soviet scientists produced a bomb identical to America's years earlier than US experts expected.
©2021 Ann Hagedorn (P)2022 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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What listeners say about Sleeper Agent
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- Clint D Elkins
- 09-22-23
It’s super slow
They could make the book a lot shorter and the start sucks if you going to listen to this listen to this book do it at 1.2 to 1.3 speed
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- J.
- 08-19-24
NON ACTION SPY SUSPENSE THRILLER
Boring, just a catalog of where he’s been whom he’s met with and non-spy craft actions he’s taken. I couldn’t figure out what the big suspense was about.
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