KGB Major General Oleg Kalugin (Ret.) was one of the youngest generals in the history of the KGB. During the Cold War he was a deputy resident at the Soviet embassy in Washington, DC where he supervised Moscow’s spy network in the US. He also served as head of KGB foreign counter-intelligence and directed several “covert actions” against the West. I don’t know what “covert action” stands for but you know it sounds juicy!

Well Kalugin spills the beans in his updated memoir: Spy Master: My 32 Years In Intelligence Against The West. He reveals how it all worked inside the KGB and how eventually fell out of favor with Russian president and fishing hunk Vladimir Putin. Putin accused him of being a traitor and he was actually convicted and sentenced to prison.

However like a good spook, Kalugin avoided jail and was granted asylum in the United States, where he is now a citizen. Wow that’s a really interesting story for a real-life spy.

He’ll be talking about that and his thoughts of more recent espionage related events in a lunchtime chat.

The talk and book signing will be from 12 PM – 1 PM at the International Spy Museum. Tickets are free and no prior registration is required. You can get complete details on the Spy Museum website.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcXgXqL_1m4[/youtube]