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A history of the 1945–46 Canadian spy crisis, built around the Kellock-Taschereau Commission that investigated Soviet espionage in Ottawa after Igor Gouzenko defected. The author draws on commission records, GRU documents, Venona decrypts, KGB archives and newly released MI5 and MI6 files. It argues the government's suspicions were largely justified, while conceding civil liberties were overstepped. It suits readers of Cold War history and espionage who want the documentary record rather than a spy thriller.
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Burn After Reading is a history of how the Canadian government used the Kellock-Taschereau Commission to uncover and thwart domestic spies in the early Cold War. It focuses on the espionage crisis of 1945–46 and on Soviet espionage in Canada.
The book draws on the Commission's records, GRU documents turned over by Gouzenko, American Venona decrypts, and Soviet KGB archives. It also uses newly released British MI5 and MI6 material.
It weaves together the evidence against the spies, Soviet tradecraft, legal challenges, and political fallout. It finds that, despite some civil liberties missteps, the government's suspicions were largely justified. It is written for both specialists and general readers.