The Spy Who Seduced America

In this true, “riveting tale of espionage” filled with Cold War intrigue, US Department of Justice employee Judith Coplon either did or did not spy for Russia. Amazingly, she was tried in twin trials in two cities, watched riveted as both verdicts were overturned, and waited for nearly two decades to learn her fate. Like the polarized public at the time, the authors—one a retired FBI agent who worked the 1949 case—disagreed about her guilt more than fifty years later. Now, in this refreshed second edition, The Spy Who Seduced America reflects their investigation of polarizing evidence, including fallout from “unidentified informants,” which took them from Washington to Moscow. Finally, they located a truth that neither could deny—and in the process shined a light on government actions that are still controversial, and in use, today. In a Publisher’s Note for this second edition, we find uncanny parallels between this seminal case and today’s counterespionage policies. It’s impossible to deny that our approach to pursuing Cold War spies set the stage for subsequent decades of wrangling over government overreach, privacy laws, illegal wiretaps, and more. As the “girl spy” who seduced America taught us, it’s one thing to know something, and another to prove it.

Marcia Mitchell served as Secretary of Labor for the State of South Dakota, a senior manager for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Associate Director of The American Film Institute; she also has written and published nonfiction in various genres throughout her career. Thomas Mitchell was an FBI agent for seventeen years, specializing in intelligence and counterintelligence work, before becoming Vice President for Government Affairs for the Georgia-Pacific Corporation. The couple was inspired to investigate and write nonfiction in the counterespionage genre when Tom first told Marcia his account of working on the Judith Coplon case in the 1940s and 50s. They also collaborated on the 2008 volume The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion—which inspired the 2019 feature-length film Official Secrets starring Keira Knightley.

After Tom’s death in 2010, Marcia continued her research and writing; their collaborative spy projects inspired a fictional series—featuring Maggie Sachet, a quirky FBI agent whose globe-trotting adventures to solve murders were vetted by real FBI agents for accuracy. Marcia is also the author of another upcoming novel, The Bridge to Somewhere, along with several previously published works of nonfiction, including Cosmetics from the Kitchen, Management Strategies for Women, and Raindance to Research.