At the height of tensions between the US and the USSR, the Americans had a secret weapon—a Soviet double agent who rose to the rank of general and passed intelligence which most likely averted a nuclear showdown. And yet this crucial historical chapter has remained hidden in the shadows…until now.
Reporting from the inside, Eva Dillon breaks the incredible story of her CIA officer father, his GRU asset, and their remarkable relationship in SPIES IN THE FAMILY: An American Spymaster, His Russian Crown Jewel, and the Friendship That Helped End the Cold War (Harper; On Sale: May 9, 2017; $28.99; Hardcover). Given the cooperation of both families as well as extraordinary access to former CIA and FBI officials involved in the case and to archival documents, Dillon delivers a riveting account that is part nail-biting spy thriller, part intimate family memoir, and an altogether electrifying read. With concerns about Vladimir Putin’s intentions and aggressions making headlines daily, this stunning page-turner brims with chilling contemporary relevance.
Growing up, Dillon always thought that her father’s job at the State Department explained their peripatetic lifestyle as they moved from continent to continent. Then his diplomatic cover was blown in a sensational book, exposing his real career to his kids and, more dangerously, to the entire world. However, it would be decades before the extent of his clandestine activities became clear to Eva and her siblings. What ultimately emerged: his role as handler for the CIA’s most valuable operative during the darkest moments of the Cold War.
Codenamed TOPHAT, Dmitri Fedorovich Polyakov was a World War II hero turned military intelligence officer who volunteered his services to the United States, a decision with potentially fatal consequences, when he was stationed at the UN in 1962. A principled man motivated by his love of his country, he wanted neither money nor asylum. Instead, by alerting the US government to its deficiencies in the arms race via a wealth of classified material, he sought to prevent a superpower faceoff. Enter Paul Dillon, Eva’s father, the primary CIA contact for whom the Soviet felt respect. After first meeting in Burma, the Russian-speaking Dillon and Polyakov developed a close friendship over the years that transcended the ideological divide and endured until their respective tragic final days.
Spanning lives, families, and politics across the Iron Curtain, this spellbinder digs deep into the past to contemplate timeless—and sometimes heartbreaking—questions of loyalty, honor, duty, conscience, and betrayal. Meticulously investigated from Dillon’s unique perspective, SPIES IN THE FAMILY intertwines the personal and the professional to illuminate at last a seminal Cold War espionage tale that could easily have been lost forever.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eva Dillon spent twenty-five years in the magazine publishing business, including stints at Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, The New Yorker, and as president of Reader’s Digest. Dillon and her six siblings grew up moving around the world for her father’s CIA assignments from Berlin to Mexico City to Rome to New Delhi. A transplanted New Yorker now living in Charleston, she holds a bachelor’s in Music from Virginia Commonwealth University.