Blake later married again in the Soviet Union and fathered more children. He also reconciled with his other children. In late 2007, Blake was awarded the Order of Friendship on his 85th birthday by Vladimir Putin. Blake's later book, "Transparent Walls" (2006), was reported by the daily "Vzglyad" ("The View"). Sergei Lebedev, the then director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of the Russian Federation, wrote in the book's foreword that despite the book's being devoted to the past, it is about the present as well. He also wrote that Blake, the 85-year-old colonel of foreign intelligence, "still takes an active role in the affairs of the secret service".