The Crown Jewels: The British Secrets at the Heart of the KGB Archives, by Nigel West and Oleg Tsarev, (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1999) . Crown Jewels is not a continuous narrative but a series of essays covering Soviet foreign intelligence activity in the United Kingdom from the early 20s up throught the Cold War. The authors have sought to present cases that are either new or could be looked at in a new light. The first chapter covers the earliest efforts by the new Soviet service, to establish itself in Great Britain following British recognition of the USSR. While the British establishment was receiving disinformation on conditions in Soviet Russia from SIS sources in Russia controlled by the OGPU (Operation Trust), it was amazing that even at this early period, the London residency was obtaining "large numbers of documents" from the Foreign Office on areas abroad,, scuh as China, where Soviet and British interests clashed in the 20s. Also, Crown Jewels describes for the first time actions by the London residency to frustrate continued efforts by sympathewtic British officials and members of the former Imperial Russian family to re-activate elements of the defeated White Russian Army. These operations paralleled the "Trust" decep[tion operation run by Moscow Center against White Russian emigrees. (excerpted from review by David Murphy - full review will be in next Intelligencer) (RoyJ)

Reviewed in AFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #25-99, June 25, 1999

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