Rating: Summary: Voice form Poland Review: Traitor is always a traitor, no matter how those, who paid him for spying would create him a great hero. Reading about Kuklinski, please do not forget the fact, that majority of thinking Poles regard him as a traitor who sold his country, not Breschniew mysteries. He helped the US to pickup strategic advantage over Kremlin, so the nuclear missles could have reached polish targets with more precission if a war in Europe broke. I would then die quicker thanks to Kuklinski. On the other hand, Gen. Jaruzelski enjoys backup of majority of natives regarding martial law in 1981. Every year's poll shows the General was right, the decision was just the best from all bad and saved Poland from home war, to which polish speaking Radio Free Europe called. Now old and ill General, who lives in Warsaw may easily walk streets unharmed. But regarding Kuklinski, any time he came to Poland he was protected by armed bodyguards, special forces as if he were someone special. He was not afraid of revenge of the Reds, he was panic about beeig hit in face by outraged natives and polish army officers.
Rating: Summary: A more balanced view from Warsaw Review: Well, if anybody is really interested in facts regarding Poles' attitudes to colonel Kuklinski, here they are, according to Pentor's survey in 2002: 36% consider him a traitor, 35% consider him a hero, 30% are undecided on the issue. Lech Walesa was against colonel Kuklinski's rehabilitation, the former president considered him a "bad example" for the army. Ex-communists Miller and Kwasniewski when they won the election soon afterwards decided to rehabilitate the colonel, which Walesa called "a political trick". Well, as you can see things are no longer black and white in Poland... and thanks God.
Rating: Summary: RIVETING !!!! Review: What a fascinating story....I couldn't put the book down !!! Ryszard Kuklinski is a real hero. What this man has done in helping to end the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Bloc is simply unbelievable. What a man of courage !!!I highly recommend this book. I just hope that Hollywood takes note and makes a movie about it. P.S. Ryszard Kuklinski has just died a few days ago in Tampa, Fla. on February 10th, 2004. He was 74.
Rating: Summary: TRULY THRILLING Review: While spy novelists attempt to spin yarns that ring true, Weiser has spun the truth into a ripping good read. Clandestine meetings, miniature spy cameras, smuggled documents, dead drops, midnight escapes, everything short of murder - though legions of Hollywood agents are no doubt stabbing each other in the back to get the movie rights. Weiser provides a remarkable look behind two curtains: both the iron one that shielded cold-war Poland and the veil of secrecy that normally cloaks the CIA. The author's unprecedented access to the actual messages that passed between spy and handler allows him to bring two fascinating personalities - and the intimate friendship they developed - to life. If you like history, buy it. If you like biography, buy it. If you're a military buff, buy it. And if you like spy novels, buy two.
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