The Albanian Operation of the CIA and MI6, 1949–1953

The Albanian Operation, carried out by British and American secret services from 1949 to 1953, was one of the first Western attempts to subvert a country behind the Iron Curtain. The British liaison officer for the project in Washington was Kim Philby, a Soviet double agent who sabotaged the whole venture. In all, about 300 agents and civilians are thought to have been killed in the disastrous operation.
The story was first pieced together by Nicholas Bethell in his 1984 book The Great Betrayal: The Untold Story of Kim Philby’s Biggest Coup, based on interviews and conversations with British and American officials and Albanian fighters who infiltrated the Stalinist Albanian regime and escaped alive. The present work presents the interviews and throws new light on what actually took place.

Robert Elsie is an internationally recognized expert in the field of Albanian studies and the author of many books on the history and culture of Albania. He lives in Berlin, Germany.
Bejtullah Destani is a British-Kosovar scholar and founder of the Centre for Albanian Studies in London. As a diplomat, he has served recently at the Embassies of the Republic of Kosovo in London and Rome. He lives in Italy.

Nicholas Bethell
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 196
Bibliographic Info: 19 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6379-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2381-8
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Introduction  1
The Interviews
Alan J. Adams  7
Julian Amery  10
Vasil Andoni  22
James J. Angleton  26
Sam Barclay  26
Zbigniew Bobinski  34
Michael Burke  35
Ramazan Cenaj  44
Terence Cooling  51
Ramazan Dalipi  56
Sali Daliu  57
Rodney Dennys  60
Lawrence De Neufville  61
Jani Dilo  61
Abas Ermenji  64
Queen Geraldine of Albania  71
Bardhyl Gerveshi  74
Adem Gjura  80
Gaqi Goga  86
Dino Gregory  90
Sir Reginald Hibbert  92
George Jellicoe  102
Robert Joyce  104
Peter Kemp  105
Said Kryeziu  107
Bido Kuka  109
Safet Malushi  112
Billy McLean  114
Sefër Muço  124
Halil Nerguti  127
Anthony Northrop  131
Lord St. Oswald  140
Abdyl Sino  141
Colonel David Smiley  147
Moy Smiley  157
Cyrus Sulzberger  158
Ihsan Toptani  159
Sali Toptani  162
Kevin Walton  163
Patrick Whinney  165
Sir Richard White  169
Martin Whitworth  171
Gratian Yatsevitch  175
Bibliography  181
Index  184