John Earl Haynes et al - Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America Books

Pros: A compelling true spy story!
Cons: Second half is a bit dry and repetitive.

RTsKhiDNI (pronounced "ritz-kidney") is an acronym for the Russian words "Rossiskii Tsentr Khraneniia I Izucheniia Dokumentov Noveishei Istorii," which is translated as the "Russian Center for the Preservation and Study of Documents of Recent History." ...

Pros: Oh, wow. I will never look at Alger Hiss or Harry Dexter White in the same way again, since according to this they are guilty.
Cons: Like most books for the "mature" reader, you cannot read it in one sitting and would be bored if you tried. Also, this isn't exactly a con, but the codes names of Soviet agents are revealed and most are are snicker-worthy (they had names like &qu

"Venona" gives a thrilling, factual account of a secret government project that existed during the Cold War era, and basically consisted of workers retrieving coded Soviet messages and "cracking" the codes to see what was revealed....