Agent career

Author: Fyodor Volkov
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-01
Features: This is an autobiographical military literary memoir written by Fyodor Volkov, the last Chairman of the Union of Soviet Writers and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Roman Shagin, a graduate of the Tashkent Military School, was framed and sentenced to five years of imprisonment in a labor camp for allegedly slandering the leader. Due to being pressured by criminals, he was caught while attempting to escape and nearly executed. When the Great Patriotic War broke out, Roman Shagin was assigned to a penal unit and sent to the front. Criminals serving in the same penal unit planned to seize him and defect during the war, but after being discovered, they were all taken for execution. An experienced soldier in the unit, realizing his innocence, raised his gun and spared his life, allowing him to continue serving in the penal unit. Afterward, Roman Shagin fought bravely, achieved numerous military honors, and became an intelligence officer, later receiving the Order of the Red Star, the Order of Lenin, and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. By the end of the Great Patriotic War, he had become an outstanding reconnaissance company commander. After the war, he was sent to the Advanced Reconnaissance School of the Red Army's Main Intelligence Directorate for further training and was later assigned to work there. He was sent on special missions to countries like the United Kingdom and Turkey. Although he performed his duties excellently, he was treated with indifference when joining the KGB due to the expulsion of Soviet agents by the British and the takeover of some personnel and tasks in the Main Intelligence Directorate by the KGB. With his official duties becoming less demanding, he enrolled at the Gorky Literature Institute and, under the guidance of literary masters such as Pavlovsky, became a highly accomplished professional writer after his military service. Through his efforts, the protagonist of the work overcomes one misfortune after another, transforming from a prisoner into a Hero of the Soviet Union. However, as an intelligence officer, he sacrificed love, family, and happiness, even having his mother's funeral arranged by neighbors. To recruit the British spy Mary, he was forced to compromise himself, which caused him deep humiliation and pain. This book is an excerpt from his trilogy, Zhukov, Marshal of the Soviet Union, On the Front of the Great Patriotic War, and The Forsaken. With his skillful writing, the author presents a unique portrayal of the fates of ordinary Russians during and after the Great Patriotic War, as well as the special destiny of an intelligence officer. The touching scenes unfold one after another, making it hard for readers to put the book down. The trilogy was awarded the Soviet State Prize.