The Main Enemy

The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB

By: Milton Bearden, James Risen

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

A landmark collaboration between a thirty-year veteran of the CIA and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The Main Enemy is the dramatic inside story of the CIA-KGB spy wars, told through the actions of the men who fought them.

Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides, The Main Enemy puts us inside the heads of CIA officers as they dodge surveillance and walk into violent ambushes in Moscow. This is the story of the generation of spies who came of age in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and rose through the ranks to run the CIA and KGB in the last days of the Cold War. The clandestine operations they masterminded took them from the sewers of Moscow to the back streets of Baghdad, from Cairo and Havana to Prague and Berlin, but the action centers on Washington, starting in the infamous "Year of the Spy"--when, one by one, the CIA’s agents in Moscow began to be killed, up through to the very last man.

Behind the scenes with the CIA's covert operations in Afghanistan, Milt Bearden led America to victory in the secret war against the Soviets, and for the first time he reveals here what he did and whom America backed, and why. Bearden was called back to Washington after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan and was made chief of the Soviet/East European Division—just in time to witness the fall of the Berlin Wall, the revolutions that swept across Eastern Europe, and the implosion of the Soviet Union.

Laced with startling revelations--about fail-safe top-secret back channels between the CIA and KGB, double and triple agents, covert operations in Berlin and Prague, and the fateful autumn of 1989--The Main Enemy is history at its action-packed best.

©2018 Milton Bearden and James Risen (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

This was a great one.

I enjoyed this book very much. Great packed with info a little to many names at times but awesome.

Great stuff

Fascinating history of events occurring during the times I was coming of age. Intellectual rather than “action filled” but all the better for it.

Definitive

Must be in the top few books on the fall of the KGB! As one active in these years, I was amazed at how much of what I heard was in new. Better yet, fascinating and entertaining. Better than fiction—you can’t make this stuff up.

Intriguing

Great stories and excellent narration. I had difficulty putting it down and have great respect for Mr. Bearden

amazing

I loved this book and could not stop reading/ listening to it, great story and it is amazing that sometimes we think we've heard it all there's nothing left in the universe that will impress us anymore than you pick something like this up and your still amazed

Company Man

This book is well written and narrated, providing excellent trade craft explanations and further insights into a period of history. However, if you’re looking for a balanced critique or criticism of CIA strategy or actions, they are certainly not in this book. At some point you may get tired of the self-aggrandizement by the author and his favorite coworkers. He avoids or dismisses any controversy, of which there was plenty during his tenure. I would suggest several other books and sources to get a balanced and objective view along with this book.

Couldn’t stop listening

Loved this book. Like watching a spy thriller except it’s all real. Tightly written and brilliantly narrated. I’ve listened to this narrator before, and he always brings a lot to the table. His performance is excellent, especially his accents and the portrayal of different characters. Highly recommend.

INSIDE HISTORY!!!

The true story of the CIA, the KGB, the fall of the Soviet Inion, and counter espionage including American traitors Aldrich Ames and Robert Hansen. Fascinating insights into involvement in Afghanistan too.

Great Book

absolutely amazing book. Riveting account of cold war espionage. Edge of your seat depictions of operations

Comprehensive History

Very much enjoyed this work. A thorough, well done history of the final part of the Cold War interwoven with a narrative point of view story from a senior officer. It’s long but so much sorry to tell. Great performance by the narrator.