20. All in all, this book and this project have opened my eyes in a new way about how government and espionage have played a huge role in the shaping of the world today. I never truly understood why the Cold War was so infamous and intense without any actual battles fought until this project. The tension surrounding the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the espionage of the time contributed to the molding of today's world. After the fall of communist Russia, the Cold War ended in 1991, but even today the ripples of the Cold War are still felt. More and more secrets will be uncovered and people will be able to look into the hearts of some of the most influential regimes and factions of the century. I am most interested in the what the future will yield in the terms of uncovered secrets and factions that can be attributed to many of today's issues and governmental decisions.

19. From reading this book and conducting further research into these historical instances one fact is for certain, the governments that people trust do not tell the people what is true but rather what they want to hear. If it were know in the U.S. or England, during the 1950's and 1960's, that KGB spies were running unchecked through the government then fear would grip the public. Secret and lies became so entangled that one could no longer differentiate between friend or foe. Many members of government around the world were actually double and triple agents. It seemed that their treachery and greed knew no bounds. The scary and shocking fact is that the KGB had ready and willing agents already deeply undercover as early as the beginning of WWII. The Russians virtually out maneuvered both CIA and MI6 in every aspect. Nobody even suspected these men until almost 1965.

18. The severe importance of Iskhak Akhmerov in the case of the Cambridge spies is that he was rumored to be Blunt's KGB contact. Although Blunt is suspected of recruiting all of the other members, including Michael Straight, many believe that Akhmerov was the recruiter of Blunt. Akhmerov also was involved in covert operations in the United States and had high and powerful connections inside the KGB and MI6. He was most likely also in contact with Straight during his time involved in FDR's cabinet. The ever twisting web of secrecy and lies never ceases to become more and more intertwined with history. Although many believe that all of the secrets of the Cold War have been uncovered, I believe that they have only hit the tip of the iceberg. It also seems that the KGB and Russian government knew everything the U.S. and England did even before they did it.

17. In late 1945 or early 1946 Akhmerov returned to the Soviet Union and became deputy chief of the KGB's covert intelligence section (отдел нелегальной разведки). He attained the rank of colonel and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner twice, the Order of the Badge of Honor, and the badge of Honored Chekist.
KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky said that Akhmerov delivered a lecture to KGB personnel in the early 1960s, one that Gordievsky attended. Gordievsky later reported that Akhmerov had described FDR's personal assistant Harry Hopkins as one of the most important and infuential splinter agents of the time. However, these accusations were never proven and investigations were never conducted on Gordievsky's testimony. other Soviet leaders realized Hopkins was feeding the Soviets information to keep them allied with the U.S. Retired KGB Lieutenant General Vitaliy Pavlov said that Gordievsky was a triator that never was in close contact with Akhmerov. Pavlov says that Akhmerov was very secretive about his work and would never have disclosed the names of his contacts in the U.S.

16. Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov was a Soviet spy of Tatar ethnicity who joined the Bolshevik Party in 1919. Akhmerov attended the Communist University of Toilers and the First State University. He graduated from the School of International Relations in 1930. Akhmerov joined the KGB in 1930 and participated in the suppression of anti-Soviet movements in the USSR's Bukhara Republic between 1930 and 1931. Akhmerov spoke Turkish, English and French. His wife, a U.S. citizen who worked for Soviet intelligence, was Helen Lowre. Helen was the niece of the General Secretary Earl Browder. In 1932 Akhmerov transferred to the foreign intelligence of the KGB and served as a covert intelligence officer under diplomatic cover in Turkey. In 1935 he entered the United States with false identity papers and served until 1939. Akhmerov returned in 1942 and served as covert agent in the United States during World War II and operated under cover as a tailor. Akhmerov is known to have used the cover names William Grienke, Michael Green, Michael Adamec, and several others while in the United States.

15. These men all had very influential friends in high places who ranged from upper echelon MI6 agents to Sir Rothschild, whose family is extremely wealthy. Still it is also peculiar that four out of five of the agents defected to Russia between 1956 and 1964. Maclean, Burgess, Philby, and Blunt all defected due to fear of being captured and tortured at the hands of the British government. I find it interesting that with all their connections and money, they still had to turn to the communist country of Russia. Also, all of them were able to live out their lives to a ripe old age and never did any prison time. It is peculiar that six of the most infamous traitors of all time were able to die peacefully and still possessing their enormous fortunes.

14. The way that these men were able to stay hidden in the shadows and undiscovered until 1964. John Cairncross, the fifth man, was not even discovered until 1990. I find it very interesting and intruiging that these men were able to fool the prestigious and world renowned British MI5 and MI6. Michael Straight was also able to fool the United States CIA. Their secret selling ranged from troop positions to full scale engineering plans for nuclear weapons. This is how the Soviets were able to find out about the Manhattan Project during WWII. It is astounding that these men could pull off one of the biggest espionage operations of all time and remain undiscovered for decades after the fact.