A former KGB major provides an insider's view of life within the KGB, discussing his career in the world of covert espionage, training, field work, and operations, and offers a view of an organization and system in decline This is another entry into the growing field of memoirs by Soviet defectors. The British edition's subtitle is "Myth & Reality," and Kuzichkin discusses these perceptions as he recounts many details of his training and life as one of the secret elite in a corrupt Soviet society. He devotes close to two-thirds of the book describing his tenure at the Soviet embassy in Tehran, where Soviet intelligence was first used against the shah's SAVAK secret police and later involved in activities during the Islamic Revolution. He also provides more information about the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. While some of these incidents have been written about elsewhere, this is a fast and interesting read. Recommended for espionage collections. - Daniel K. Blewett, Loyola Univ. Lib., Chicago Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.