In the Enemy's House: The Secret Saga of the FBI Agent and the Code Breaker Who Caught the Russian Spies by Howard Blum

In the Enemy's House: The Secret Saga of the FBI Agent and the Code Breaker Who Caught the Russian Spies Reviews

• 
  David

  In the Enemy's House: The Secret Saga of the FBI Agent and the Code Breaker Who Caught the Russian Spies by Howard Blum, The New York Times bestselling author of Dark Invasion and The Last Goodnight once again illuminates the lives of little-known individuals who played a significant role in America’s history. He chronicles the incredible true story of a critical, recently declassified counterintelligence mission and two remarkable agents whose story has been called "the greatest secret of the Cold War." In 1946, genius linguist and codebreaker Meredith Gardner discovered that the KGB was running an extensive network of strategically placed spies inside the United States, whose goal was to infiltrate American intelligence and steal the nation’s military and atomic secrets. Over the course of the next decade, he and young FBI supervisor Bob Lamphere worked together on Venona, a top-secret mission to uncover the Soviet agents and protect the Holy Grail of Cold War espionage—the atomic bomb. Opposites in nearly every way, Lamphere and Gardner relentlessly followed a trail of clues that helped them identify and take down these Soviet agents one by one, including Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. But at the center of this spy ring, seemingly beyond the American agents’ grasp, was the mysterious master spy who pulled the strings of the KGB’s extensive campaign, dubbed Operation Enormoz by Russian Intelligence headquarters. Lamphere and Gardner began to suspect that a mole buried deep in the American intelligence community was feeding Moscow Center information on Venona. This twisting thriller begins at the end of World War II and leads all the way to the execution of the Rosenbergs—a result that haunted both Gardner and Lamphere to the end of their lives. Well researched and written based on newly declassified and released documents.
• 
  Jeanette

  What a book! Especially in light of the years of Cold War that continued for half of a century with the U.S.S.R., and now the "all of a sudden" renewed enlightened interest to Russian espionage.
  
  It's a hard book to enter. The first 100 pages are so difficult and personality placement heavy that I would guess, just a guess, but I would guess not one in 3 or 4 would proceed to get through it all. It also includes explanation for the triple lock key processes of coding that the Russian units and headquarters in Moscow developed during the late 1930's, during WWII, and far into the 1950's. It's a coding system that I do not half understand (maybe just about half). And after reading this, still do not grasp fully at least a 1/3rd of the progressions to the "3rd" lock. Especially using that one-use only code book translating key during the final stages. And I am primarily a numbers person- so this is quite, quite difficult. Not only to use, but also to explain. It's all numbers in 5 set units.
  
  By comparison the Japanese, German codes of the same WWII period were mere Sanskrit in comparison. They were all broken in a matter of weeks, and for a few times, just days. While Russian code systems although intercepted "whole piece" were unable to be read for 4 or 5 or even 7 years afterwards. So time is up and back constantly in this book- it's extremely difficult to follow what context is "known" at any one period.
  
  But primarily this book is cored on the partnership of Meredith Gardner and Bob Lamphere who did break those Russian codes. Two men in one small office that could hardly be more dissimilar. Not only in physical appearance but in temperament, background etc. etc. etc. Meredith was the desk man (a genius plus called "the legend") and Bob was the field man who tested his decoded results in the real world.
  
  The only thing that kept me from giving this book 5 stars is the complexity of the subject matter and the time principles involved. They are fluid. As code name or tag changes to another for the same agent or cell group they are using 4 to 7 year old back encryption. So what they know as Mlad in 1945 is something else completely by 1948. And in 1950 that mover/player might be Wasp or Liberal. But they do know almost from the get go that the key player and oversight core for the Enormoz (fusion nuclear research stolen information) has a wife with the Christian name of Ethel.
  
  This also colors the Russian duo agents (Moscow side KGB) who send and receive. Also their other assignments/ assigners who operated on the "receiving" end of all this scientific and chemical information which was highly, highly top secret. These two also- they are quite friends from the first KGB schools of near childhood years' experiences, but it follows them until this 21st century and into middle aged placements until old age for one of them. They become know in this book, as well.
  
  So much exposed. And the depth of information given to Russia within the 1942-1952 decade especially? It probably changed entire threads of actual human history for the latter 1/2 of the last century. No, not probably. It did.
  
  It also highlights in the beginning of the book and at the very end, the ultimate Rosenberg paths, as well. If for nothing else, that alone is worth this read. And he questions Ethel's involvement degree, not only the author but others. That's the only thing for all of these 100's of persons' tales that I think they left quite open to a "fact" interpretation upon the reader's part. There certainly
  is disagreement. Meredith thinks she was too sick to become heavily involved. Others think she was the supreme residenza (cell and all its tributaries of spies where they ultimately feed the gathered information to send to Moscow) of the entire.
  
  If you have patience, read this. Keep an open mind and really consider too the actual roles of the FBI as cited and as they self-identity. Before their expansion, during this WWII into 1960 period, now- and how their internals work from Hoover days inceptions. This demonstrates that context perfectly for that pondering of their lawful "place" and evolving. I don't think I have ever come across another book that did carve that nuance as well to practical applications for the FBI (and CIA is some respects too) as this one did. Consider how they name those D.C. headed offices- "the Dreamland".
  
  And also consider the ages of all these people. A lawyer at 21 (Bob) and a central Los Alamos agent at 19 (one of the Russian spies). And also that the #2 in position man for the entire (only 15 men total)for the first A bomb scientific group taken from Europe to work on that project from its get-go year was handing over detail upon detail small and large, plus sketches (bomb mechanics) and factors to process inputs. His name was Kraus Fuchs. I never heard of him. He was another large key.
  
  That's what floored me the most. Of all these names, the only ones you ever hear in a greater historical memory have been the Rosenbergs. While at the same time there were dozens of Communist spy cells and tributaries of cells in the USA. And I was taught as a grammar school girl in the 1950's and 1960's that the Rosenbergs were "spies" and their death penalties harsh but earned and almost nothing more about them. Really never taught why this depth of information was treason.
  
  They never taught me what they had organized and accomplished for a long period of time. At their sentencing I had to read the judge's declaration about 3 times slowly (I copied it below this review). Because I do feel that Ethel should have gotten life or 30 years as Sobell and others received. The author seems to think this, as well. Because her parts to deceptions were horrific but not as fully proven to material placements in factual copy. While others who did equal to Julius got off with running away to South America and all kinds of shorter incarcerations. I believe they wanted the maximum just to become martyrs, because they never confessed, as dozens of others did when proofs and photos were shown to them.
  
  Judge's declaration:
  
  "I believe your conduct in putting into the hands of the Russians the A-bomb, years before our best scientists predicted Russia would perfect the bomb, has already caused, in my opinion, the Communist aggression in Korea, with the resultant casualties exceeding fifty thousand, and who knows but what millions more innocent people may pay for the price of your treason? Indeed, by the cause of your betrayal, you undoubtedly have altered the course of history to the disadvantage of our country."
  
  The biographic information for all of the code breakers and the spies of both sides, about 75% of the players from all of those years, is also included at the end. As is a large section of his research methods and contacts.
  
  This is a book that truly opens some eyes to a "window". More than a half a dozen countries, and especially England/ the USA- they have been paranoid in certain eras for very real reasons.
• 
  Cold War Conversations Podcast

  As good as any fictional spy thriller
  
  Howard Blum tells the fascinating story of the race to capture the Soviet spy ring that passed the secrets of the atom bomb to the Soviet Union. The main characters are codebreaker Meredith Gardner and FBI agent Bob Lamphere, and Blum details how Gardner cracked fragments of the key Soviet codes, with Lamphere piecing them together to capture the Soviet spies.
  
  The book reads like a novel and at places I did question how much this was based on fact or the authors suppositions, but at the end of the book Blum does assure the reader that all conversations or thoughts in the characters heads are backed up by documentary evidence.
  
  It’s a pacey read, and to use a cliché quite a page turner. Although I was aware of many of the characters such as Klaus Fuchs, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Blum does provide rich character background that give more depth and insight than a dry analytical account of the process involved.
  
  The book ends with the execution of the Rosenbergs which Lamphere and Gardner were unable to prevent without disclosing that the codes had been broken.
  
  A fascinating account of the early days of espionage in the Cold War.
  
  I was given a copy of this book by the publisher, but was not required to provide a positive review.
• 
  Jill Mackin

  A riveting account of the hunt for, and capture of, the Rosenberg spy ring, also know as the Venona Project.
• 
  Mal Warwick

  When I was growing up in Ohio in the 1950s, one of the biggest stories in the news was the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. They had been convicted of helping spirit scientific details about the construction of the atomic bomb from American scientists and engineers to KGB officers stationed in New York. Ironically, as we learn in Howard Blum's new book, In the Enemy's House, they personally had little or nothing to do with funneling that information to the Soviet Union. Julius was involved because he ran a spy ring that included couriers who had been in contact with some of the nuclear scientists. Though Ethel was aware of her husband's role, she herself played no active part in the affair. The man most clearly responsible for providing the Soviet Union with information about how to build an atomic bomb was a German emigré scientist named Klaus Fuchs, who was convicted and imprisoned in Britain in 1950.
  
  Blum's book is subtitled The Secret Saga of the FBI Agent and the Code Breaker Who Caught the Russian Spies. That's accurate. The central characters in this engrossing account are FBI agent Bob Lamphere and Meredith Gardner, a polyglot linguist widely regarded as a genius who worked as a codebreaker for the forerunner of the NSA. This is "a story of two very different and very unlikely friends who had teamed up to chase down the most consequential spy ring in American history . . . one the prideful brawler and elbow-on-the-bar carouser, the other the devotee of unfathomable puzzles who hid behind an armor of social inhibition." Gardner's contribution was to break the unbreakable Soviet diplomatic code, which was far more sophisticated and complex than either the much-better-known German Enigma or Japanese Purple codes, which had been broken by others before and during World War II. (The Soviet code was, in fact, unbreakable; Gardner succeeded only because he gained access to documents that provided a route in.) Lamphere turned Gardner's discoveries into actionable investigations.
  
  Blum also reports extensively on the Soviet side of the story, focusing on the prominent Soviet spymaster Alexander ("Sasha") Feklisov.
  
  Lamphere and Gardner worked together for seven years, from shortly after the conclusion of World War II until the Rosenbergs were sent to the electric chair at Sing Sing prison in 1953. Interestingly, both men were guilt-stricken over the results of their work. Neither had wanted either of the two to be executed, and both felt strongly that it was wrong to kill Ethel Rosenberg for what at best was a tangential connection to the conspiracy.
  
  Throughout In the Enemy's House, Blum directly quotes Lamphere, Gardner, Feliksov, and several others and relates their thoughts at the time. In a Note on Sources at the conclusion of the book, the author insists "they are products of the historical record and my research. They can be substantiated by official government records, documents, and reports; bookshelves filled with volumes of Cold War histories; memoirs; personal notebooks; contemporaneous newspaper reports; previously transcribed conversations; and, not least, lengthy interviews I conducted with the close relatives of the main actors in this story (Bob Lamphere and Meredith Gardner are deceased)." The result is that Blum manages to make the story read like a novel. It's a police procedural translated into the realm of espionage.
  
  Howard Blum, formerly a reporter for the Village Voice and the New York Times, is the author of twelve previous nonfiction books.
• 
  Sarah

  Although I was familiar with the Soviet efforts and successes in acquiring US nuclear weapon technology, this was still interesting to read and had a lot of details that I was unfamiliar with, like exactly how the Soviets encoded their messages and how the US broke that code. Also, how bad at counter-espionage the FBI was at the beginning of the game. I mean, following people around while in the black suits and fedoras? Good try, flatfoots. Heh.
  
  This is the second of Blum's books I have read and, while I liked Dark Invasion better, I will probably read more of his in the future. I have reached the point where I refuse to read fiction that is dry and laborious and Blum is good at making history alive and enjoyable to read.
• 
  Crystal

  Audiobook. Non-fiction, spy biography. 3 Stars
  I did learn a few new things-Finland entered WWII on the side of the Nazis, for one.
  The thorough description and explanations of spycraft from this era was also informative. Yes, I've heard of dead drops and one time pads but never really got a full education on the ins and outs of it. Turns out, it's mostly boring and tedious. I guess I did know that before, but so many of the other stories (fictional and real) are summed up in a way that the boring in-between details are lost.
  Maybe a different narrator would have held my interest more, but this was very dragged out at times for me.
• 
  Lee

  A compelling history of the early US Intelligence communities breaking of the code used by the Soviets to communicate with Moscow. An middling FBI agent fighting to make his career relevant, an Aspergery linguist in the NSA join together as an unlikely team to break an uncrackable code. Reads like a Le Carre novel.
  
  The code was used during the Second World War, when the US and the USSR were ostensibly allies, but Moscow was, at the time, running agents in the US, stealing nuclear secrets. The Rosenburgs were the most well-known, but others around them (CUNY, it turns out, was a nest of commie spies), were working for the Soviets.
  
  I had trouble putting this book down.
• 
  Crystal

  This one took me back to my college years. I could see this being required reading in one of Dr. Rice’s classes. I really enjoyed the approachable nature of the fascinating history lesson. I did the audiobook so it was like sitting in a lecture, absorbing the information.
• 
  Barb

  WWII, Cold War Espionage. Interesting, but a bit of a slog to get through all the details. This is definitely a book that you need to keep track of the characters if you want to fully follow the espionage. The author assists by reminding the reader of code name changes and sometimes repeating the role of the character. Time periods alternate which in most cases is helpful, but it requires a careful read. If you don't read a lot of espionage, which I don't, it does offer an insiders look on the process of catching a spy.
• 
  Naomi

  3.5/5
  
  Didn't enjoy this one as much as I have other works by this author. The topic was a bit drier and I found myself needing to focus on details closer than I have in his other works because I wasn't retaining due to lack of interest in the topic. Nevertheless, I still rounded up to four stars due to the quality of writing."
• 
  Jerome Otte

  A compelling and well-written work.
  
  Blum covers the Soviets’ success in penetrating the Manhattan Project early on (Operation Enormoz), and how Meredith Gardner and the FBI’s Bob Lamphere gained an early glimpse into the operation from intercepted Soviet cables through VENONA. He covers the challenges of breaking the Soviet code, as well as the how the effort was aided by the Gouzenko and Bentley defections and by the FBI’s investigation into Soviet espionage at Los Alamos.
  
  Blum does a great job conveying the thankless and laborious effort that goes into counterintelligence, and the humanity of the people involved, while keeping the story going at a fast pace. The writing is clear and concise (if a little glib or breathless at times), and the narrative is well-paced and does a great job building up suspense.
  
  Still, Blum’s apparent sympathy for Ethel Rosenberg seems like a bit much at times, given that the VENONA cables confirmed her role, as did the testimony of Russian defectors. The Rosenbergs could have avoided their fate by spilling the beans on what they did to the FBI and the prosecution, but didn’t; Blum doesn’t touch on this much. Also, his portrait of Lamphere is a little cartoonish; sure, he didn’t care for bureaucracy and red tape too much, but did that really make him a rebellious lone crusader? Blum seems to think so. He also portrays the FBI as naive regarding the possibility of the Russians spying on their allies, but the Bureau was already investigating Russian espionage in America during the war (like at the Comintern and the Berkely radiation lab) The coverage of KGB ciphers could also have been more detailed.
  
  There are also a couple errors: At one point Zalmond Franklin is called “Franklin Zelman,” and he is called a KGB spy, even though he was just a courier. Elsewhere, when discussing the Rosenbergs, Blum writes that there were only three witnesses that testified against them (really?), and that the FBI agent investigating Theodore Hall was unaware of VENONA, even though he did know. Blum also harps on Lamphere’s “guilt” over Ethel Rosenberg’s fate, but this seems exaggerated. Blum writes that this supposed guilt influenced his decision to quit the Bureau, even though Lamphere later joined NSA, and even though Lamphere himself wrote that the decision was more about his career.
  
  A good book overall, but it could have been researched a little better.
• 
  John McDonald

  This is a mildly interesting account of the capture of Klaus Fuchs and the Rosenbergs, those thieves of America's atomic secrets and processed during the post-WWII cold war period when it came as a surprise to both the CIA and the FBI that those atomic secrets were being stolen by Americans and delivered to Russian secret services, then known as the KGB.
  
  There really is little new of note here to anyone familiar from those who read history or intelligence operations, but kudos for it being well-written, if not sometimes too adoring of Bob Lamphere and Meredith Gardner, his code-breaking partner. I was surprised, though, that the Venona project, the code-breaking effort Gardner and, at one time, his wife, were engaged in, was unknown to the President and other agencies. So top-secret was the project that evidence that would have brought the Russian espionage to an end was not used as a way to protect the project's secrecy.
  
  I also thought that more description of Gardiner's wife would have been interesting and relevant. From the minor description that was given, it sounded as though she was every bit as intelligent as Meredith, who was somewhat of a social dimwit, and who was outgoing and beautiful to boot. The author and his editors had an opportunity here, and they cast it aside. Too bad for the reader.
  
  SECOND READING: Even more interesting than the first read. I would like to have known more about Meredith Gardiner's wife, who in her own right, was brilliant, a codebreaker, and beautiful to boot.
• 
  Yibbie

  I made it about 1/3 of the way through this book before I gave up. Until then it was a rather slow moving but interesting book. The author has painstakingly compiled the stories of the main characters involved in the KJB's spy rings focusing on the atomic bomb program and the cryptographers and FBI agents bent on stopping them. At the spot where I quit, the Americans were just starting to make progress toward breaking the Soviet codes. That was when the language got too foul for me.
• 
  Kieran Healy

  Enter the dawn of the cold war from the shadows, where the opening salvos of the cold war are not with guns and bombs, but spies and moles. Where an innocuous all-girls school campus houses the most secret code-breaking team in the United States. When a hot-headed FBI agent (Bob Lamphere) and a socially awkward academic (Meredith Gardner) team up to try and take down the extensive Soviet spy network inside the United States, but in a way that (mostly) upholds law and order instead of the KGB-style disappearance or execution.
  
  Overall, Blum does a fantastic job turning a complex code-breaking investigation into a readable cloak-and-dagger spy story. Meredith and Bob must decipher Russian codes from before the end of WWII to track down American moles inside the atomic and hydrogen bomb developments in 1946. Since it is told from Bob and Meredith's perspective, it requires some time jumping that some readers may find confusing but is necessary to tell the story in a context that makes sense from that perspective and to maintain the drama of what they are trying to find out.
  
  In some ways I loved how, even though I knew some of the story about what was handed to the Soviets and how they used the information, the breadth of data stolen is remarkable. I found myself at times hoping against hope that they would find the moles in time, even though history proves they won't (for the most part).
  
  It becomes a real page turner once the code is cracked and Bob is set loose trying to track everyone down. But then... it just kind of ends. Blum wants to instill some emotion into the story, showing how the fallout of the investigation adversely affected those involved, but the set up just isn't there for me, and because the emotion isn't carried throughout the book, or is inconsistent at the least, it falls a little flat. Essentially, I don't buy the guilt being sold in the last chapter. It's just not set up well in the body of the book. Because of that bit of deflation I knocked off a star.
  
  But other than that I really enjoyed this and tore through it in no time. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in cold wart history, a passing interest in cryptography, and especially anyone who likes real (or invented) spy stories.
• 
  Katie/Doing Dewey

  I have to give a lot of credit to the cover designers for this book and for many other works of narrative nonfiction. It only took me a glimpse of this cover to guess this was going to be the sort of historical narrative nonfiction I love. I’m happy to report that the cover was not misleading. The contents were exactly what I expected. The story itself is fascinating and it was told in an engaging way. The author did a great job focusing on a handful of key players. This kept the cast of the story from becoming overwhelming, even as the author gave us detailed backstories that made me feel more invested in the main people involved. Little details, like descriptions of locations or weather, also brought this story to life.
  
  This author also did a nice job drawing on primary sources to share direct quotes and details of the interior lives of the people involved. I’m especially happy that a detailed note on sources (yay!) explained that these parts of the story were never just speculation. My only complaint with this book is that, having read Code Girls, I felt the author gave too little credit to the many women working on the code-breaking part of this story. Women had several of the key insights that allowed Gardner to finally crack the Russian codes. Despite this, the author describes the women as doing only supporting clerical work and emphasizes their basic training. See this excerpt of Code Girls for details. I debated knocking a star off for this, but I can’t actually say anything he wrote was inaccurate. It was just a little biased to support the typical lone genius narrative and minimize the contributions of others.
  
  Despite my complaints about the author’s slant on the women code breakers, this is going to be my second five star read of the year. (Review of the first, Hunger, to come this Nonfiction Friday!). Overall, this was engaging narrative nonfiction, exactly what I’m looking for when I pick up a book like this. I’m surprised I’ve not heard of this Pulitzer nominated author before and will definitely be checking out his extensive backlist.
  
  This review first published on
  Doing Dewey.
• 
  Nick

  Blum does an excellent job telling the story of the Rosenberg spy ring from the perspective of the FBI, the KGB, and the agents in the ring. Blum provides a keen sense of how investigators and spies operate and think as they painstakingly carry out the tasks of their positions.
  
  Blum does an excellent job of conveying the challenges of spying in investigating. Other books on spying, including biographies and novels, often focus either on the the extraordinary accomplishments of one or a few individuals or try to impress the reader with their insight into the craft of espionage. Blum's writing avoids these pitfalls by focusing on the main characters, but also emphasizing the supporting role dozens of other individuals played, many not named in the book. He also does an excellent job describing how the events played out, using and describing jargon as necessary. Blum also does an excellent job describing how each character faithfully carries out their tasks, giving enough details and respecting the reader to consider the dilemmas of spying and investigating for themselves.
  
  This book should be appealing to anybody who is a fan of espionage or criminal stories. The dilemmas and themes facing the spies and investigators, and much of the tradecraft, is very similar to those of the 21st century. From techniques and limits of interrogation and surveillance to the painstaking tasks of reviewing records and decrypted intelligence, this book is rich in detail and thought-provoking anecdotes.
• 
  Alan Kaplan

  Superb book about the Ethel and Julius Rosenberg case. Julius Rosenberg was a Soviet mole working on the atomic bomb and he shared many of the secrets with the USSR. He and his wife were traitors. They ran a spy ring to supply the Soviets with highly classified information. This spy ring ran for years. In The Enemy’s House is a sort of literary docudrama focusing on a FBI agent, Robert Lamphere and a genius code breaker, Meredith Gardner. Gardner slowly but surely broke the Russian secret codes and Lamphere with incredible persistence tracked down the traitors who were only described by their code names. The story is all true and the Soviet’s developed an atomic bomb much quicker than expected. This is irrefutable historical fact. The author supposes that without the atomic bomb, the Russians never would have backed North Korea during the Korean War. Therefore, there would be no war and thousands of Americans would not have died. The Rosenberg’s were responsible for these deaths. This has been proven by the declassification of both American and Soviet secret files.
  On a personal level, when I was growing up, the press and the media behaved as if the Rosenberg’s and Alger Hiss were all innocent and were railroaded by the federal government on trumped up charges. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the end I believe that the truth always comes out.
  
• 
  Rachel

  Okay, so this one took me too long to read (over two months--yikes!), but that was largely because I was finishing up a school year and reading other books. Once I actually sat down and focused on finishing this one, it took me less than a week.
  
  Anyway, now that I have finished this one at last, I do have to say I enjoyed it. Blum's telling of the Russian spy ring in the U.S. during and after WWII was a story I knew woefully little about before reading this, and I learned quite a bit about not only ciphering but about the time period and the FBI/KGB that I had never even thought about before. I had also heard of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg before but not enough to really know what they had done or what happened to them. Kudos to Blum for telling this story!
  
  Not only is the information impressive, but Blum's research and skillful weaving together of all the facts into one compelling narrative is similarly mind-boggling. The book reads like one complete tale from beginning to end with a healthy dose of mystery and relevant backstories included, and I had no idea until the ending notes how many sources and interviews Blum used to get this story off the ground. It's quite the list!
  
  If you like true stories told by accomplished and knowledgeable nonfiction storytellers, then I'd definitely recommend this one to you.
• 
  Elmwoodblues

  Howard Blum does an amazing job of giving life to two lesser-known (outside the covert agencies of the west) actors, a dogged FBI agent with a gnawing hunch that the Soviet Union was spying on the US during World War 2, and a brilliant and reclusive linguist and crypt-analyst pretty much right out of central casting. ( I await the movie with hopes toward, perhaps, Russell Crowe and Benedict Cumberbach...)
  
  The narrative reads more like fiction than dry historic reporting; I was relieved to see Blum refer to the scrupulousness of his sources for such intimate disclosures as what a character said privately, or was thinking or feeling. Chapters end with a page-turner's flourish, and it is a hard book to put down, aside from one or two over-detailed dead ends.
  
  It is easy to read 'In the Enemy's House' and forget it isn't John LeCarré, given the intrigues of the Cold War as well as the bureaucratic infighting. It is equally easy to forget that it is referring to events that happened over 50 years ago, as so much seems not to have changed. In his 'Notes on Sources', with regard to having written this book "during the presidential campaign of 2016 and well into the first year of the new presidency", Blum quotes Faulkner: "The past is never dead; it is not even past."
• 
  Jonnie

  The story was 5 stars and the research that went into the book is noteworthy. The writing, however, was 3.5 stars at best. Besides the overuse of dashes which was excessive, the writing was disjointed and clunky. With better editing and writing, I think this could have been a solid 5-star book. Therefore, I rated it 4 stars.
  
  If you didn't know the history around the story, the prologue set some suspense. It held my attention from the start even though I knew the ending. It was fascinating to read the cipher language and how Meredith worked on cracking the code. It also pointed out the failures of both the US and Soviet governments in handling this situation. The book also noted that the Korean War had an impact on the final sentencing by the judge. I had not thought about this although I knew this was during the red scare and McCarthyism. Still, it seemed obvious to everyone involved in hunting the spies that Ethel Rosenberg's sentence was unfair.
  
  There are many American and Russian names in the book, most of whom had code names. Some even had multiple code names. Because the author frequently switched between their real names and their code names, I eventually just made a cheat sheet to keep track.
  
  Overall, it is definitely worth reading.
  
• 
  Brian Walter

  I just had a conversation with my father about my inability to read multiple books on the same topic, then I ran across this, not being fully aware of what it covered. I'm glad I didn't shy away, because this is a much more in depth look at the code cracking involved in what would ultimately lead the the capture and execution of Juluis and Ethel Rosenburg.
  
  I found the mathematics of it confusing to follow, but the narrative swept you along in a way that it didn't matter. I trusted that Meredith Gardner was smart enough for the both of us. The book was rich in details and switch up perspectives to keep the story interesting. The author kept the story full of facts, yet thankfully it didn't read like text book. Overall it was a fascinating look at the work that went into unraveling a mystery that most people didn't even know the country faced.
  
  If you're looking for a strong spy story... And a true one at that.. This is a worthy read. And to be honest, would make a great movie. Full of intrigue and espionage, excitement and of course the controversy of Ethel's death.