Boris Volodarsky


Boris B. Volodarsky is an English historian, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, specialising in Intelligence History, which he has studied for almost 30 years after having moved to the West, and the history of the Spanish Civil War.

Education

Volodarsky has a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science
Since 2010, Volodarsky is a Research Fellow at the LSE's Cañada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies under the directorship of Professor Paul Preston, member of the Cambridge Intelligence Seminar chaired by Professor Christopher Andrew and the World Association of International Studies, Stanford University, USA. Volodarsky made his name writing The KGB's Poison Factory: From Lenin to Litvinenko and several follow-up books and articles on the history of Soviet intelligence. He is a regular contributor to the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Voice of America, ITV, and John Batchelor Show. Volodarsky also acted as the chief consultant for the BBC Panorama documentary ‘How to Poison a Spy’. Volodarsky's interview on the Russian undercover agents, the so-called ‘illegals’, for the Foreign Policy was reprinted by many international media and even referred to in WikiLeaks.

Publications

The first book was a short biography of the Soviet defector Nikolai Khokhlov, whom he knew personally, for the series ‘Personal Files’. Volodarsky has also published a critical biography of the Soviet defector Alexander Orlov, which the former Official Historian for the British Security Service MI5, the Cambridge Professor Christopher Andrew characterised as ‘a major contribution to the history of Soviet intelligence and foreign policy’. In his review of the book for The Spectator, Alan Judd, the former private secretary to the MI6 chief, writes that ‘Volodarsky enhances our understanding. His is not the last word – we’ll never get there – but it is a significant and valuable addition’. According to Professor Richard B. Spence, ‘Stalin's Agent is a must read for anyone seriously interested in the history of modern espionage, the Soviet aspect especially, and the history of the Spanish Civil War. It is likely to stand as a basic reference work for many years to come’. Its shorter version, mainly covering Soviet intelligence operations during the Spanish Civil War, was published in Spain and in Romania.

Books