The Spy Who Seduced America (Lies and Betrayal in the Heat of the Cold War-The Judith Coplon Story)

"An entire chapter of American paranoia and mania," launched by Judith Coplon, the first spy to be tried during the Cold War.

In this true, “riveting tale of espionage,” US Department of Justice employee Judith Coplon either did or did not spy for Russia. Amazingly, she was tried in twin trials in two cities, watched riveted as both verdicts were overturned, and waited for nearly two decades to learn her fate.

Like the polarized public at the time, the authors—one a retired FBI agent who worked the 1949 case—disagreed about her guilt more than fifty years later. Now, in this refreshed second edition, The Spy Who Seduced America reflects their investigation of polarizing evidence, including fallout from “unidentified informants,” which took them from Washington to Moscow. Finally, they located a truth that neither could deny—and in the process shined a light on government actions that are still controversial, and in use, today.

In a Publisher’s Note for this second edition, we find uncanny parallels between this seminal case and today’s counterespionage policies—including government overreach, privacy laws, illegal wiretaps, and more. As the “girl spy” who seduced America taught us, it’s one thing to know something, and another to prove it.