Out of Bondage, by Elizabeth Bentley, published by Ballantine Books, 1988

Elizabeth Bentley, at the age of thirty-seven, voluntarily revealed herself as a covert agent of the American Communist Party on August 23, 1945. In doing so, she set off shock-waves in Washington, D.C. as the first post-war American Soviet spy to confess to espionage. Following numerous debriefings, she agreed to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. This set the stage for years of testimony in which she repeatedly identified employees of the U.S. Government who were furnishing information to the Russian Intelligence Services. Elizabeth Bentley admitted that she herself was culpable of acting as a courier in this capacity while employed with the U.S. Service and Shipping Corporation, an operational cover. Working closely with her lover, Jacob Golos (Jacob Rasin), an experienced leader of the Russian Secret Police, whom she met in 1938, Elizabeth assisted in the passage of sensitive information to the Russian government.

Many of the individuals Elizabeth Bentley identified as communists faced years of investigation, congressional subpoenas, grand jury indictments, and prosecution. Most steadfastly professed their innocence and accused Bentley of being a neurotic liar whose allegations were self-serving to protect her from prosecution. In the 1988 edition of Out of Bondage (originally published by the Devin-Adair Company in 1951), an afterword by Hayden Peake endeavors to analyze the credibility of Elizabeth Bentley, as well as her book. In analyzing Bentley's disclosures, Hayden Peake acknowledges contradictions, mistakes, and even lies in some instances. There is also some suspicion as to Bentley's motive to come clean in the first place. Was she afraid that she had been detected by the Americans? Was she afraid she was about to be liquidated by the Russians? Was she seeking a new direction after the death of her lover, Jacob Golos?

Regardless of her failings, her testimony under oath undeniably identified the existence of a thriving communist network of government employees committed to the Soviet Union before, during and after World War II. The sensational nature of her allegations was a major impetus in launching the McCarthy era. The resulting criticism of the McCarthy era also had the effect of damaging her personal credibility. She eventually retreated from the limelight and found employment teaching until her death from abdominal cancer in 1963. She was fifty-five years of age and left no survivors.

Although much of Bentley's testimony was not supported by hard evidence, such as documents and photographs, it is vastly telling that in the mid-90s, years after her testimony before congressional committees, the United States Government declassified the top-secret World War II project code named Venona. This resulted in the decryption and release of intercepted coded cablegrams sent from the Russian embassy in the United States to Moscow. The cables identified the recruited America government employees spying for Russia. Elizabeth Bentley was among those highlighted as a spy. Her Russian code name was "Clever Girl."