Secret Soviet Maps Spy Maps

Long before we could access satellite imagery, we relied upon hand-drawn maps to navigate—the greater the detail, the greater the information that one could use. The Red Atlas is the story of how the Soviet Union secretly mapped the world in astonishing detail from 1950 to 1990.

“Spying involves waiting, watching, remembering, and recording. It involves sophisticated cameras and high-altitude aircraft and missiles with satellites, but also people on the ground, quietly walking down streets, looking.

Sometimes, the products of all that spying during the Cold War were intelligence reports, which told Washington or London or Moscow what the other side was doing. Intelligence reports might provide inside information that could be used to decide broad strategy- when to move armies or navies.

Sometimes, the products were maps. Highly detailed maps, useful for spies and policy makers, for diplomats, invading armies and occupiers. Maps that could provide more specific tactical information that might come from intelligence reports. Maps that could tell a general which roads and bridges provide the best routes to use to drive his tanks, or an admiral which harbours were deep enough for his destroyers.” -

From The Red Atlas: How the Soviet Union secretly mapped the world by John Davies, Alexander J. Kent, and James Risen. Published by the University of Chicago Press, 2017.

The State Library has acquired a few items over time for the Heritage collections that would fall into this category. It is interesting to look at these retrospectively and consider how they may have been used or interpreted.