Nowhere has intelligence and counterintelligence played quite as prominent a role as in tsarist Russia and its successor the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or Soviet Union, since replaced by the Russian Federation. Decades, indeed sometimes centuries, before intelligence gathering became a serious concern in most other parts of Europe, let alone the United States, the Russian state formed agencies to spy on enemies abroad and even more thoroughly on those at home, real or imagined. These agencies expanded exponentially, drawing in ever more agents and informers, arresting ever more suspects, and executing many of them or more leniently sending them into exile or slave labor camps. Although among the most fervent supporters of the regime, the intelligence agencies often subverted the regime and came to dominate it. No history of Russia can ignore them, and this series would not be complete without mention of the Oprichnina, Okhrana, GPU, NKVD, KGB, Smersh, and others. Although considerably tamer, and held