My (wee) Subversive Part in the Decline and Fall of the Soviet 'Evil Empire'

21/6/2013

In winter 1982 Gary made a trip to the Soviet City of Leningrad to share the
latest news from the 'West' with a random selection of citizens kept in the dark
by their totalitarian Government.

Read his story here...and add comment below...

9 Comments

Stephen

27/6/2013 07:09:14

I was interested to read about Professor Paul Wilkinson in this piece. He taught me later at St Andrews University and was a great guy. You're right he really was ahead of his time putting terrorism studies on the map!

screaming in Alepo

27/6/2013 09:05:00

Can't say that I think your 'new revolutionary credo' will be much welcomed in Syria where the Free Syrian Army are fighting against a Russian backed fascist regime. The changes that you write about may be beneficial from the point of view of people living in the old Soviet Union but the Russians are still pusuing an militaristic foreign policy. No change there....

The Pronosticator

27/6/2013 13:37:46

Fascinating. The"snitch" is probably an oligarch going on and on about how he was persecuted in Soviet days and your good honest friend is probably an alcoholic who dined out of dustbins in the Yeltsin years. The Chicago School have a lot to answer for.

P Floyd

28/6/2013 08:03:37

Fantastic reading here. Love the Pink Floyd (big fan). Cant imagine trying that today, you would never get through customs this end (but probably easier the other end)!

Sarah Ward

28/6/2013 08:44:32

Glad to see that you haven't lost your smile of yesteryear Gary! A happy disposition goes along way to disarming the 'gits' of the world. Your whole site demonstrates comment bourne from experience. How many senior British politicians these days have military experience and have been a secret agent!

Bill

9/7/2013 06:59:38

Have never seen " postie " in your CV.
Should send this to Tom Clancy, he could use this as a sub-plot in Cardinal of the Kremlin 2
I'm a great believer in " every little bit helps " so well done and remind me not to go on holiday with you

Dan Mattera link

21/5/2014 12:20:02

Mr. Ling,

Do you realize you may have been under the watchful eye of Vlad Putin himself? Vlad was stationed in Leningrad until '84, when he was transferred to E. Germany.

Gary Ling

21/5/2014 12:36:28

Wow, thanks for this Dan. By his age I guess that Putin was only just a few years older than the dorm snitch. Maybe he was a guy who co-ordinated all the intell from people like this. I wonder if the KGB was sector based in intelligence gathering (i.e. by geographic area) or they ran verticals (i.e. universities, space, manufacturing, whatever) in those days? Thanks for taking the trouble to comment!

Baldwin Park Permit Application link

25/9/2022 01:11:01

Thannk you

My (wee) Subversive Part in the Decline and Fall of the Soviet 'Evil Empire'

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