The book “The East is a Delicate Matter” was written by a professional intelligence officer, captain of the first rank Vadim Sopryakov and is a unique story about the everyday, but very difficult, sometimes extremely dangerous affairs of our intelligence officers. The author himself had to work for several years in extreme conditions in the residencies of a number of Asian countries - Japan, Malaysia, Burma, India, and then during the war in Afghanistan commanded the operational reconnaissance and sabotage detachment "Cascade". The book reliably shows the clash between Soviet and American intelligence in defending the national interests of their countries, the smart, subtle work of our illegal immigrants. The chapter “Russia's Prodigal Sons” gives an unsightly picture of the vile betrayal of former colleagues (Penkovsky, Polyakov, Levchenko, Rezun, Gordievsky). The author had to face the first three in both life and work. The book is equipped with an appendix and photo illustrations and is read with great interest.