The Spy Within Secondary Title

In 701 B.C. the Assyrian empire was in its ascendancy. It had already vanquished the kingdom of Israel to the north including the capital at Samaria. It then prepared an assault on Judah and its capital at Jerusalem.

But in one of those significant events that changes the course of world history, Assyria was repelled. Jerusalem was saved until 586 B.C. when the Babylonians sacked the city, forcing its leadership class into exile.

Henry Aubin, in a major feat of scholarship, determines that Jerusalem was aided by a Kushite army from Africa which had marched northeast from the Nile valley. While the Bible attributes the Assyrian retreat to an angel and secular commentators cite pestilence, Aubin, in a meticulously documented work, demonstrates that an alliance with the African nation of Kush bolstered Jerusalem’s defences.

Kush, also known as Nubia, was located in what is now southern Egypt and northern Sudan. A monarchy that existed for more than 1000 years, from 900 B.C. to A.D. 350, Kushites held sway over Egypt from 712 B.C. to about 660 B.C. Of Egypt’s 31 dynasties, this, the 25th Dynasty, is the only one that all scholars agree, was black.

The commander of the Kushite expeditionary force was Taharqa (or as the Bible calls him Tirhakah). This Kushite prince, who had his own interests in halting Assyrian expansion, likely caught the aggressors by surprise as they prepared their siege of Jerusalem.

Aubin offers a thrilling military history and a stirring political analysis of the ancient world. He also sees the event as influential over the centuries.

The Kushite rescue of the Hebrew kingdom of Judah enabled the fragile, war-ravaged state to endure, to nurse itself back to economic and demographic health, and allowed the Hebrew religion, Yahwism, to evolve within the next several centuries into Judaism. Thus emerged the monotheistic trunk supporting Christianity and Islam.

The Spy Within

“Hoffman possesses a solid command of his material and conveys the secretive nature of espionage agencies with a novelist’s panache.”
                                          Kirkus 
 

“The hunt is electrifying…Hoffman’s knowledge of the espionage business [is] shared with us in vivid writing…The Spy Within illuminate[s] the thicket of deception, mis-direction and confusion that is the high-stakes real-world game of spy vs. spy.”

Montreal Gazette


Vadim Daniel Photography
Steerforth Press 2008

The Spy Within

Larry Chin and China’s Penetration of the C.I.A.

A true story that reads like an espionage thriller

In October 1982, the FBI received notice from the CIA that was as cryptic as it was chilling: China was running a spy somewhere inside US intelligence.

For the next three years, investigators laboured frantically to identify the mole, to discover the secrets he had betrayed and the agents he had endangered. They also collected evidence to convict him.

Larry Chin was the top Chinese linguist working for the C.I.A. And for 30 years, he was China’s top spy. His tenure spanned such pivotal events as the Korean War, the Cultural Revolution, the Vietnam War, and President Richard Nixon’s groundbreaking visit to Beijing. Chin’s reports were circulated to China’s senior leadership, reaching Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping.

The Spy Within recounts one of the most significant cases in the history of espionage; the longest running penetration ever. It offers unique insights into the mysterious realm of Chinese intelligence tradecraft. It reveals untold details about the investigation and prosecution of Larry Chin, including new information about the Chinese defector who sounded the initial alarm.

Tod Hoffman was given exclusive interviews by the key players in the affair, most of whom have never before spoken publicly. He gained access to previously unreleased documents through Freedom of Information Act requests.

An eight-year veteran of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Hoffman served on the Counter-Intelligence: China desk. He brings the practical experience of a spy-catcher to his research.

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