Krivitsky was the first high-ranking Soviet intelligence official to defect and reveal his secrets in 1939. In England in 1940, he came very close to unmasking the circle of Soviet spies inside Britain's intelligence services led by Kim Philby, known as the ?Cambridge 5? spy ring. Europe was too dangerous for him to hide safely. He was convinced he would be safe in America. But he was also trapped by the weight of all the secrets he carried with him. Stalin had to cat quickly to protect his vast espionage network. From that moment on there would be no escape from the Soviet assassination squad. His memoir written while he was on the run reads like a spy story where the end remains unwritten by its author as he dared not imagine his own death.