Farewell: The Greatest Spy Story of the Twentieth Century - Softcover

Vladimir Ippolitovich Vetrov was a brilliant student, great athlete, model husband and father; in short, he had all to make a success of his life. Once recruited by the KGB, he was first sent to France, then Canada, before being assigned to an analyst position in Moscow which gave him full access to Soviet information technology.

His eagerness transformed into frustration and anger while operating under Brezhnev. This, in addition to problems with his wife, Svetlana, and a pronounced penchant for drinking, lead to a profound crisis. To save himself from his failed life, he took a leap: in the Fall of 1980, he contacted the French intelligence agency, DST, and became a double agent with the code name “Farewell.”

Right under the nose of the almighty KGB, Farewell provided the West with proof that the USSR knew everything about their most sophisticated weapons. He also gave the names, country by country, of all of the agents he knew working for the KGB. His collaboration with the DST made France a major player in the spy game. The crucial information Farewell provided to the West lead Ronald Reagan to admit that this “is one of the most important espionage affairs of the 20th century."

Journalist Sergei Kostin spent two years researching Vetrov’s every move, from his earliest work for the KGB through to his trial for the murder attempt on his mistress in 1982, in order to tell the story in full. Scriptwriter Eric Raynaud collaborated to create the film version of Farewell, starring Diane Kruger and Willem Dafoe.

Sergei Kostin is a Russian documentary maker and writer living in Moscow. He is author of four nonfiction books, mainly about secret services, translated into eight languages, including The Man Behind the Rosenbergs and of four spy novels published in Russia, the USA (Paris Weekend), Bulgaria, and Serbia. First published in France in 1997 under the title Bonjour Farewell, Farewell was the fruit of two years of painstaking investigation in Moscow and Paris interviewing the key players and witnesses to this amazing adventure.

Eric Raynaud is a French film writer who joined up with Sergei Kostin to contribute to Farewell after the release of the film L’Affaire Farewell, starring Willem Dafoe.

Catherine Cauvin-Higgins is a French-Russian-English translator. She was Thomson-CSF interpreter during the Vetrov years, working directly with Jacques Prévost, Vetrov's initial French contact, and Xavier Ameil, his first handler. She participated in trade negotiations with Vetrov's peers, in Paris and in Moscow, during those years.