"The little-known story of a spy on the atom-bomb project in World War II who had top security clearance--American born, Soviet trained, he was never even suspected until after his information was in Soviet hands and he was safe in the USSR. It's LeCarre and "The Americans" for real"-- In 1932 George Koval's parents, Russian Jews who had emigrated because of anti-Semitism, decided to return home to live out their socialist ideals. There he was recruited by the Soviet Army as a spy and returned to the US in 1940. At Columbia University Koval knew scientists soon to join the Manhattan Project, America's atom bomb program; in the U.S. Army Koval used his scientific background and connections to secure an assignment at a site where plutonium and uranium were produced to fuel the atom bomb. There were hundreds of spies in the US during World War II but Koval was the only Soviet military spy with security clearances in the atomic-bomb project. Hagedorn tells the story of Koval, who in 2007 was posthumously awarded Russia's highest civilian honor for his contributions to the Soviet atomic bomb program. -- adapted from jacket Provided by publisher.

Prologue -- Part I: The lure. The dream on Virginia Street ; "Nothing but the truth" ; The arrest -- Part II: The deception. "The business trip" ; Undercover in the Bronx ; General chemistry ; Lies and ties ; The man in the Jeep ; The playhouse secret ; Spycraft ; Defections and detections ; The joiner ; The escape -- Part III: The hunt. Sovershenno sekretno (top secret) ; Postcards from Paris ; The March 1953 letters ; Exposed -- Epilogue.