Stout, Rex [The Doorbell Rang / In Our Contemporary]. Zvonok v Dver' / Nash Sovremennik. No 2-5 (February-May). 

Translation by An. Gorsky and Yu. Smirnov. 
Illustrations by E. Shukaev. 

Moskva, Izdatel’stvo, “Literaturnaia gazeta”, 1967. 
8vo, 127, [1] pp., ill. (each No). 

In original pictorial wrappers and modern clamshell box.
In good condition, lightly rubbed and soiled, small loss to back cover edge (No 2). 

First Russian translation of any of Rex Stout’s works. Translated by a Soviet spy. 

Rex Stout’s relationship with the Soviet Union and his political stance toward it were complex. During the late 1930s and 1940s, Stout was an outspoken opponent of fascism and Nazism. He publicly supported aid to the Allies and criticized isolationist movements such as America First. However, after the Second World War, Stout’s political views diverged sharply from Soviet ideology. He became a vocal critic of Stalinism, regarding it as another form of tyranny akin to fascism. Stout condemned manipulative propaganda from both the political left and right, and he opposed McCarthyism for turning anti-communism into political hysteria. In his essays, he warned that McCarthy’s tactics threatened democracy more than they protected it.
These positions drew the attention of the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover, who viewed Stout as a suspicious liberal 'sympathizer' because of his prewar left-leaning activism. His FBI file reportedly included references to his biting satire of the Bureau in 'The Doorbell Rang' (1965), one of the most memorable novels in his celebrated Nero Wolfe series, noted for its bold critique of the FBI and its director.
Ironically, Rex Stout’s works – especially the Nero Wolfe stories – became unexpectedly popular in the Soviet Union and remain widely read in Russia today, despite their American origins and the politically charged climate of the mid-20th century. His works began to appear in Russian translation in the late 1960s and 1970s, notably in 'Nash Sovremennik' ('Our Contemporary'), a literary magazine known for its conservative and patriotic orientation – most likely as a way to attract subscribers. 
The first Russian translations of Stout’s works (including this one) were prepared by Yurii Smirnov (1914–1987) and Anatoly Gorsky (1907–1980) – the latter not only a translator but also a Soviet intelligence officer.
Gorsky began his career in the Soviet internal security service (OGPU) in 1928. In 1936, he was transferred to foreign intelligence and assigned to England. During the 1939 purges, the London residency was dissolved, and Gorsky was recalled to Moscow. Having survived the repressions, he was later reappointed as London resident, serving as First Attaché and Second Secretary at the Soviet Embassy. Under his supervision operated around twenty agents, including members of the Cambridge Five – a group of British spies who passed information to the Soviet Union during and after the Second World War. From 1944, Gorsky served as resident in the United States, where he oversaw the activities of Elizabeth Bentley, an American NKVD agent handler. After Bentley’s defection to the FBI, Gorsky was recalled to the USSR. He later worked in internal security and eventually turned to literary translation, producing Russian versions of works by Arthur Conan Doyle, J. B. Priestley, Rafael Sabatini, Rex Stout, and others.
The popularity of 'The Doorbell Rang' – one of Stout’s most celebrated novels in the USSR – stemmed from the fact that it demonstrated to Soviet readers the degree of freedom Americans had to criticize their own government. Nevertheless, this translation did not appear in book form until 1973.
The translation was illustrated by Evgenii Shukaev (1932–1988), an artist, cartoonist, and caricaturist who for many years served as the principal illustrator for 'Krokodil', the famous Soviet satirical magazine. He also created the illustrations for Carroll’s ‘Alice’, published in Moscow in English in 1966–1967.