The First Directorate: My 32 Years in Intelligence and Espionage Against the West

Kalugin's book fleshed out the KGB skeleton as we understood it. He filled in the details. Written in an easy to read style, layman and professional alike will find it fascinating. It is not filled with the statistics, tables, graphs, and charts that many technical researchers are so fond of. Instead, The First Directorate reads like both a fascinating novel and a biography. It takes the reader through the gradual disillusionment of an avid believer in the Communist system to one who gradually began seeing it for what it really was.

Oleg Kalugin is a genuine hero of both the Soviet Union and its succeeding Russian Republic. He never defected and served both governments with distinction because he was a patriot first and a KGB officer and politician second. He wanted what was best for his country and his people and was for reform, not revolution.

This book shows the KGB for what it once was and how it degenerated into a bumbling state sponsored Mafia that in the end attempted to devour the state itself. At their worst the CIA and FBI could never have been as incompetent as the KGB. Kalugin shows how the KGB had a mixture of competent men with a sense of justice and others who were stupid cold hearted psychopaths. He relates how attempts at reform by the good agents were squashed by others in the system who were both corrupt and incompetent, and how they protected each other from prosecution.

"The First Directorate" presents specific cold war events as they were seen from the other side of the looking glass. Kalugin handled spies and defectors like Burgess and Walker. He noted that he had more respect for someone who turned against their country for idealistic reasons than one who betrayed their country for money.

Much, much, more could be said in praise of "The First Directorate." It isn't about Kalugin as much as it is an expose of the inherent weaknesses of Socialism and especially the KGB whose job it was to protect the Socialist form of government from internal corruption and external infiltration.

Kalugin clarifies many events that changed the world during the 70 years of the USSR's experiment with Communism. He could speak with authority because he was on a first name basis with the top players in both the KGB and the Soviet government.

This book should send chills up the spine of any American wanting to socialize the government and put big government in control of all aspects of our lives, from taxes that redistribute wealth, to control of our schools and businesses.

Buy "The First Directorate" and read it, and you won't be so hard on our guys.


Not Bad   April 17, 2002
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This book is another in the long line of books to come out of the former USSR after the clod war came to an "end". The author is relating his experiences in the arm of the KGB that was responsible for information gathering, primarily against the U.S. and NATO. If you have read a number of these books in the past there is not a great deal of new information in the book. There are some interesting bits and you get a good look that this authors insight to "the game". If you are an armchair expert on the topic then this is another of the titles you will undoubtedly already have or will need to pick up. If you are the general reader then this is a broad description of the subject, but not the definitive one volume work.


Formidable, insightful, humorous, and valuable   April 8, 2000
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

Oleg, now a green-card resident of the U.S. is our most personable and enjoyable former opponent on the intelligence speaking circuit, and both Bill Colby and I supported him in his efforts to move permanently to America. His book is a marvelous account on the general details of his formidable career that culminated in his being elected to the Russian Parliament. Page 222, "Kill the dog!", has a special meaning for professionals the world over.


THE KGB (KALUGIN'S GREAT BOOK)   November 26, 1999
 9 out of 11 found this review helpful

As an amateur Cold War historian, (I have to use the word amateur as I possess no initials behind my name, at least not in the field of history), I highly recommend this fascinating book to anyone seeking an experience far beyond that of other books on this subject. Although retired KGB General Oleg Kalugin reveals nothing new about the Cold War itself, he offers the reader something much more significant and unique. Through the frank, non-apologetic words of this extremely intelligent man, a man groomed for a top slot in the corporation by KGB chairman Andropov, we journey not only through KGB counterintelligence operations of the Cold War but through the stark realities of the internal workings of the KGB itself, as well as those of Soviet life. General Kalugin actually gives us a book within a book, as he takes us inside himself to reveal his thoughts, feelings, motives and perceptions. Those who wish to learn about the complete man will find this aspect priceless, as he was no ordinary KGB operative. Here is a man who spent 32 years in the Soviet KGB, reaching the powerful rank of major general and chief of foreign counterintelligence. Here, also, is a serving KGB general who, while physically in Russia, publicly spoke out in favor of social reforms, in addition to reforms within the KGB itself, and lived to tell about it. General Kalugin's book is not for everyone. If you are looking for a politically-correct and superficial account of the Cold War, which would be right at home at any modern public school, this book is not for you. If, on the other hand, you desire an in-depth and deeply personal tour of the Soviet KGB conducted by one who lived it for 32 years, then this book is an absolute "must."