Boy that subtitle is misleading. I really only recommend The Zhivago Affair if you have a strong interest in Boris Pasternak, aka the author of Doctor Zhivago. This book turned out to be more of an autobiography of Pasternak than anything else.

I have not yet read Doctor Zhivago, which I thought may have been a error but ultimately it did not matter. Yes, there is a summary of the novel in the beginning, just skip it if need be. Overall the book does have a little CIA and a little Kremlin, though mostly just the presence of the Kremlin power and influence rather than the actual Kremlin detailed. It takes nearly half the book before the CIA is detailed at any length and that does not last very long, which was highly disappointing to me because it was the part I was most interested in.

Overall, The Zhivago Affair is a summary of some of Pasternak's life and great detail regarding Pasternak's life after the drama of the publishing of Doctor Zhivago. There is also a great deal of time dedicated to the reaction of publishers, critics and various countries etc. to the novel itself, which for me does not make for very interesting reading. It was, however, interesting how the CIA tried to use the novel to influence citizens in the USSR from within, unfortunately this was not as much of a focus as I would have liked.

And honestly? The book rather made me less interested in reading Doctor Zhivago...