A thin, balding, and reclusive middle-aged Russian by the name of
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel was one of the Soviet Union's most renowned spies
during the Cold War of the 1950s...until his cover was blown by an
incompetent colleague who wanted to defect to the United States. This is
the full account of Abel's espionage work, his dramatic apprehension,
his eventual conviction and its affirmation by the United States Supreme
Court, and finally, his surprising release back to Russia.
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel ran KGB operations in the United States for nine
years during the Cold War of the 1950s, until one day his true identity
was revealed by a lazy, hard-drinking, womanizing colleague who decided
to defect to the United States before he was sent back to Russia--and
presumably his death--for incompetence in the field.
As the authorities hunted down Abel, the FBI had in hand his tools of
trade--hollowed-out bolts and coins used to send tiny coded messages and
photographs back and forth to the Soviet Union--but little else in the
way of hard leads. After Abel was located, his modest hotel in Manhattan
was staked out by the FBI for over a month before he was eventually
arrested and tried for espionage.
After his conviction, Abel appealed his case to the Second Court of
Appeals, where he argued that the search and seizure of his hotel room
was unconstitutional because they were made without a warrant. His
conviction was affirmed, and the case proceeded to the Supreme Court,
which was sharply divided.
The cliffhanger facing Abel for the next several years was whether he
would face the electric chair, remain in prison for the rest of his
life, or be exchanged for an American spy held by the Russians. His fate
remained in the balance.
