The Spy and the Traitor
The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
*The No.1 Sunday Times Bestseller*
'THE BEST TRUE SPY STORY I HAVE EVER READ' JOHN LE CARRÉ
A thrilling Cold War story about a KGB double agent, by one of Britain's greatest historians - now with a new afterword
On a warm July evening in 1985, a middle-aged man stood on the pavement of a busy avenue in the heart of Moscow, holding a plastic carrier bag. In his grey suit and tie, he looked like any other Soviet citizen. The bag alone was mildly conspicuous, printed with the red logo of Safeway, the British supermarket.
The man was a spy. A senior KGB officer, for more than a decade he had supplied his British spymasters with a stream of priceless secrets from deep within the Soviet intelligence machine. No spy had done more to damage the KGB. The Safeway bag was a signal: to activate his escape plan to be smuggled out of Soviet Russia. So began one of the boldest and most extraordinary episodes in the history of spying. Ben Macintyre reveals a tale of espionage, betrayal and raw courage that changed the course of the Cold War forever...
BEN MACINTYRE'S NEXT BOOK, COLDITZ, IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Macintyre (Rogue Heroes) recounts the exploits of Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB agent turned British spy responsible for "the single largest operational download' in MI6 history," in this captivating espionage tale. Building on in-depth interviews and other supplementary research, Macintyre shows Gordievsky expertly navigating the "wilderness of mirrors" that made up the daily existence of a Cold War spy passing microfilm, worrying that his wife will turn him in to the KGB, battling an unexpected dosage of truth serum. In Macintyre's telling, Aldrich Ames, the CIA agent turned KGB operative who gave up Gordievsky's cover, functions as a foil and a vehicle for moral comparison between the KGB and MI6. In a feat of real authorial dexterity, Macintyre accurately portrays the long-game banality of spycraft the lead time and persistence in planning with such clarity and propulsive verve that the book often feels like a thriller. The book has a startling relevancy to the news of the day, from examples of fake news to the 1984 British elections in which "Moscow was prepared to use dirty tricks and hidden interference to swing a democratic election in favor of its chosen candidate." Macintyre has produced a timely and insightful page-turner.
Customer Reviews
What a rollercoaster
Brilliantly written, and such compact narration, yet full of information that’s easy to digest … a real rollercoaster and exciting from start to finish. To think this is reality and not a work of fiction, blows your mind. I’d urge anyone to read this - “flawless”.
Sir Oleg
A brilliant and engrossing account of the most extraordinary double agent. A brave man who sacrificed everything for what he believed in. The West owe him a great debt of gratitude, as do those countries now free from the USSR
Brilliant read
A fantastic insight to cold war espionage that reads like a novel. So much so that from time to time you need to remind yourself that this is a true, factual account.