Быль

"Bylʹ" - ėto khronika zhizni trekh pokoleniĭ odnoĭ semʹi, vpletennai͡a v sobytii͡a KhKh veka, - nachinai͡a s istorii moego deda, sovetskogo razvedchika v SShA, i zakanchivai͡a mnogoletneĭ borʹboĭ za osvobozhdenie iz SSSR moego ott͡sa - uchenogo, kotorogo KGB podozreval v rabote na T͡SRU.
Sredi personazheĭ - razvedchiki i kontrrazvedchiki, informatory i predateli, inostrannye korrespondenty i politiki, khudozhniki, pisateli i dissidenty, naseli͡avshie virtualʹnui͡u "zonu soprikosnovenii͡a" dvukh protivoborstvui͡ushchikh storon kholodnoĭ voĭny.
Rasskaz nachinaetsi͡a s 1960-kh godov, kogda i͡a, student MGU iz privilegirovannoĭ evreĭskoĭ semʹi, osmyslivai͡u sovetskui͡u istorii͡u, v kotoroĭ moĭ ded, staryĭ bolʹshevik, sygral nemalovazhnui͡u rolʹ, buduchi odnim iz uchastnikov "atomnogo shpionazha".
Okonchiv universitet, i͡a prisoedini͡ai͡usʹ k dissidentskomu dvizhenii͡u, voĭdi͡a v krug akademika A. D. Sakharova, no vskore poluchai͡u razreshenie na vyezd i okazyvai͡usʹ v Izraile, gde nedavniĭ opyt uchastii͡a v dvizhenii moskovskikh evreev-otkaznikov stalkivaetsi͡a s realʹnostʹi͡u sluzhby v izrailʹskoĭ armii na okkupirovannykh territorii͡akh.
V kont͡se kont͡sov i͡a peremeshchai͡usʹ v Nʹi͡u-Ĭork v otdel mikrobiologii Kolumbiĭskogo universitete, gde okazyvai͡usʹ v t͡sentre diskussii, estʹ li v SSSR taĭnai͡a programma biologicheskogo oruzhii͡a. Tem vremenem, sovetskie vlasti otkazyvai͡ut v vyezdnoĭ vize moemu ott͡su, izvestnomu mikrobiologu.
Spusti͡a desi͡atiletii͡a, byvshiĭ ofit͡ser KGB i sosluzhivet͡s Putina raskryvaet mne lichnosti informatorov sredi kolleg i druzeĭ moego ott͡sa, i podrobnosti dela, v kotorom ott͡sa oshibochno zapodozrili v peredache sekretov biooruzhii͡a v T͡SRU. Po khodu moego rassledovanii͡a, i͡a natalkivai͡usʹ na zakhvatyvai͡ushchui͡u istorii͡u drugogo sovetskogo uchënogo, kotoryĭ deĭstvitelʹno peredaval v T͡SRU best͡sennye dannye, no tak i ne byl razoblachën ili poĭman.
V konechnom itoge, moĭ otet͡s byl osvobozhdën v ramkakh slozhnogo obmena shpionami, v rezulʹtate peregovorov na vysokom urovne i lichnogo uchastii͡a prezidentov Reĭgana i Gorbachëva. Nashe vossoedinenie v Nʹi͡u-Ĭorkskom aėroportu zavershaet semeĭnui͡u istorii͡u, udivitelʹnym obrazom sovpav s kont͡som kholodnoĭ voĭny.
Aleksandr Golʹdfarb

Kniga Golʹdfarba - obrazet͡s prezhde ne sushchestvovavshego zhanra, rodivshegosi͡a iz udachnogo soedinenii͡a memuarnoĭ prozy, dokumentalistki i nauchno-populi͡arnogo issledovanii͡a. Ėto udachnoe soedinenie nesoedinimykh, kazalosʹ by, veshcheĭ daet v itoge interesneĭshui͡u knigu o vremeni, svidetelʹstvo istorii, zapisannoe ee zhivym i neposredstvennym uchastnikom.
Li͡udmila Ulit͡skai͡a

Ėto zakhvatyvai͡ushchiĭ rasskaz o tom, kak nauka, shpionazh i inakomyslie stolknulisʹ v sisteme, nasledie kotoroĭ do sikh por formiruet putinskui͡u Rossii͡u.
Li͡uk Kharding, 'The Guardian'

"The Past" is a chronicle of the life of three generations of the same family, woven into the events of the twentieth century, starting with the story of my grandfather, a Soviet intelligence officer in the United States, and ending with the long—term struggle for the liberation of my father from the USSR, a scientist whom the KGB suspected of working for the CIA.
The characters include intelligence officers and counterintelligence agents, informants and traitors, foreign correspondents and politicians, artists, writers and dissidents who inhabited the virtual “contact zone” of the two opposing sides of the Cold War.
The story begins in the 1960s, when I, a Moscow State University student from a privileged Jewish family, comprehend Soviet history, in which my grandfather, an old Bolshevik, played an important role, being one of the participants in the “atomic espionage.” 
After graduating from university, I joined the dissident movement, joining the circle of academician A.D. Sakharov, but soon I received permission to leave and found myself in Israel, where my recent experience of participating in the Moscow Jewish refusenik movement collides with the reality of serving in the Israeli army in the occupied territories.
Eventually, I move to New York to the Department of microbiology at Columbia University, where I find myself at the center of a discussion about whether the USSR has a secret biological weapons program. Meanwhile, the Soviet authorities are denying an exit visa to my father, a renowned microbiologist.
Decades later, a former KGB officer and Putin's colleague reveals to me the identities of informants among my father's colleagues and friends, and details of the case in which my father was mistakenly suspected of passing secrets of biological weapons to the CIA. In the course of my investigation, I come across the fascinating story of another Soviet scientist who actually passed invaluable data to the CIA, but was never exposed or caught.
Eventually, my father was released as part of a complex spy swap, as a result of high-level negotiations and the personal involvement of Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev. Our reunion at the New York airport completes the family story, coincidentally coinciding with the end of the Cold War.
Alexander Goldfarb

Goldfarb's book is an example of a genre that did not exist before, born from a successful combination of memoir prose, documentary and popular science research. This successful combination of seemingly incompatible things results in an interesting book about time, a testimony to history recorded by a living and direct participant.
Lyudmila Ulitskaya

It's a fascinating account of how science, espionage, and dissent collided in a system whose legacy still shapes Putin's Russia.
Luke Harding, 'The Guardian'