A Letter From the Publisher

By John A. Meyers

In addition to covering and analyzing the week's news, TIME occasionally offers its readers a bonus: an advance look at the memoirs of historic figures. Nikita Khrushchev, Anwar Sadat, Henry Kissinger and Jimmy Carter are among the world leaders whose books have been excerpted in the magazine. The current selection is something of a break with tradition: the author, Soviet Defector Arkady Shevchenko, was virtually unknown outside diplomatic and political circles. Only with the sensational revelations in his new book, Breaking with Moscow, does he emerge from the shadowy world of superpower espionage. Last week's eleven-page excerpt carried Shevchenko's insights on Kremlin personalities and intrigues of the 1950s and '60s. This week's installment details his career as both a high-ranking Soviet diplomat and an agent for the CIA until 1978.

The excerpts were chosen by TIME's Washington bureau chief, Strobe Talbott, who translated and edited the memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev. The latest project required a special approach, Talbott says, "precisely because it does come from the world of espionage, where deception and illusion are commonplace. Those of us working on the project thought it important to verify the bona fides of the author and, as far as it was possible, his story." As State Department correspondent and diplomatic correspondent during the 1970s, Talbott had covered stories about defectors, agents and double agents--and the tricky business of telling them apart. Says Talbott: "I went back to a number of sources from that realm, some of whom, it turned out, had been watching Shevchenko closely for years. All indications came back positive: Shevchenko was authentic and reliable."

After he had boiled the 378-page book down to the two excerpts, Talbott met with Shevchenko to interview him for the introductions and review certain editorial problems. Reporter-Researcher Anne Hopkins, who independently checked verifiable material in the excerpts, also spoke with the author. "Even when he was on vacation in the Caribbean," she says, "he would keep in touch by phone."

The project was supervised by Executive Editor Ronald Kriss, who has helped excerpt the memoirs of Kissinger, Carter, former Secretary of State Alexander Haig and Historian Theodore White for TIME. "It's always fascinating to look in these windows on history," he says. "What we're trying to do is give our readers fresh insights and illuminations of the news, a dimension that is almost impossible to achieve by even the best weekly journalism."