The Spy Who Seduced America

Judith Coplon was young and pretty, and possibly a spy for the Soviet Union when she was arrested in 1949 for espionage. Due to FBI bungling, Coplon was arrested twice, indicted twice, tried twice—and set free both times. J. Edgar Hoover never wanted to prosecute her, FBI agents perjured themselves on the stand, and Coplon's lawyer, who specialized in bankruptcy, created a circus out of the courtroom. Utilizing recently declassified material, personal interviews with Coplon's husband and numerous FBI and KGB contacts, and Thomas Mitchell's firsthand account of the case as an FBI agent, the two authors started off on opposite ends—one thinking she was innocent and the other believing she was guilty—before discovering the truth about America's Mata Hari in bobby socks.