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At the end of World War II, the United States was considered the victor over tyranny and a champion of freedom. But it was clear—to some—that the Soviet Union was already seeking to expand and foment revolution around the world, and the American government’s strategy in response relied on the secret efforts of a newly formed CIA. Chronicling their fascinating lives, Scott Anderson follows the exploits of four spies. Despite their ambitions, time and again their efforts went awry, thwarted by ham-fisted politicking and ideological rigidity at the highest levels of the government.

Even within the intelligence community, the Black Tsar was considered to be a myth - the most powerful hydrogen bomb in human history, secretly constructed by the Soviets and capable of near-biblical levels of human destruction. Only, the Black Tsar was never a myth - and 20 years after the weapon went missing from a darkened warehouse in Sarov, Russia, it's now been tracked to somewhere within the United States.