The Origins of Zelenograd: The Amazing Story Of Two U.S. Engineers In Cold War Russia

Author and BioCentury Publications Senior Editor Steve Usdin tells the fascinating story of two American engineers, Joel Barr and Alfred Sarant, who were recruited into espionage by Julius Rosenberg, and, driven by ideology, evaded the FBI and escaped to carry on their work on behalf of the Soviet state. Barr and Sarant rose to the pinnacle of power in the Soviet establishment and managed the building of the postwar modern Soviet military machine and microelectronics industry. Based on new files and a personal friendship with the late Barr, who gave Usdin interviews and letters revealing his entire life story, Usdin shares new stories on computing during the Cold War and how Zelenograd, the Soviet Silicon Valley came to be.

Usdin is joined by Alexander Galitsky, former Soviet Space Agency president and general manager, to discuss other aspects of how the high tech industry began in the former Soviet Union and how it continues to evolve today.