The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold WarNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The celebrated author of Double Cross and Rogue Heroes returns with a thrilling Americans-era tale of Oleg Gordievsky, the Russian whose secret work helped hasten the end of the Cold War. “The best true spy story I have ever read.”—JOHN LE CARRÉ Named a Best Book of the Year by The Economist • Shortlisted for the Bailie Giffords Prize in Nonfiction If anyone could be considered a Russian counterpart to the infamous British double-agent Kim Philby, it was Oleg Gordievsky. The son of two KGB agents and the product of the best Soviet institutions, the savvy, sophisticated Gordievsky grew to see his nation's communism as both criminal and philistine. He took his first posting for Russian intelligence in 1968 and eventually became the Soviet Union's top man in London, but from 1973 on he was secretly working for MI6. For nearly a decade, as the Cold War reached its twilight, Gordievsky helped the West turn the tables on the KGB, exposing Russian spies and helping to foil countless intelligence plots, as the Soviet leadership grew increasingly paranoid at the United States's nuclear first-strike capabilities and brought the world closer to the brink of war. Desperate to keep the circle of trust close, MI6 never revealed Gordievsky's name to its counterparts in the CIA, which in turn grew obsessed with figuring out the identity of Britain's obviously top-level source. Their obsession ultimately doomed Gordievsky: the CIA officer assigned to identify him was none other than Aldrich Ames, the man who would become infamous for secretly spying for the Soviets. Unfolding the delicious three-way gamesmanship between America, Britain, and the Soviet Union, and culminating in the gripping cinematic beat-by-beat of Gordievsky's nail-biting escape from Moscow in 1985, Ben Macintyre's latest may be his best yet. Like the greatest novels of John le Carré, it brings readers deep into a world of treachery and betrayal, where the lines bleed between the personal and the professional, and one man's hatred of communism had the power to change the future of nations. |
From inside the book
Niđurstöđur 1 - 5 af 52
Síđa
The two friends would soon be colleagues, allies in espionage on behalf of the Soviet bloc. For a month, they camped under the pines, ran every day, swam, sunbathed, and discussed women, music, and politics.
The two friends would soon be colleagues, allies in espionage on behalf of the Soviet bloc. For a month, they camped under the pines, ran every day, swam, sunbathed, and discussed women, music, and politics.
Síđa
Gossip about the private lives of colleagues swirled around the KGB, as in most offices, with the difference that in the Center scandal and tittle-tattle could destroy careers and end lives. The KGB.
Gossip about the private lives of colleagues swirled around the KGB, as in most offices, with the difference that in the Center scandal and tittle-tattle could destroy careers and end lives. The KGB.
Síđa
After an intense all-night discussion with colleagues back at the rezidentura he reached the conclusion that the spy did not see any difference between one bottle cap and another. In Denmark, births and deaths were registered by the ...
After an intense all-night discussion with colleagues back at the rezidentura he reached the conclusion that the spy did not see any difference between one bottle cap and another. In Denmark, births and deaths were registered by the ...
Síđa
But, just as often, Gordievsky and his colleagues believed they had successfully gone “black” when they had not. Either PET was monitoring Copenhagen's red-light district or the Danes were shadowing Gordievsky, because he was spotted ...
But, just as often, Gordievsky and his colleagues believed they had successfully gone “black” when they had not. Either PET was monitoring Copenhagen's red-light district or the Danes were shadowing Gordievsky, because he was spotted ...
Síđa
The next month, he and a KGB colleague set out to kidnap two of the leading émigré figures in the Czech reformist movement: Václav Černý and Jan Procházka. A distinguished literary historian, Professor Černý had been sacked from Charles ...
The next month, he and a KGB colleague set out to kidnap two of the leading émigré figures in the Czech reformist movement: Václav Černý and Jan Procházka. A distinguished literary historian, Professor Černý had been sacked from Charles ...
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LibraryThing Review
Umsögn notanda - LynnB - LibraryThingAmazing book with great research and strong writing I didn't know anything about Mr. Gordievsky, so the story was a real page-tuner for me. It made me reflect on how the world of the people involved ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
Umsögn notanda - charlie68 - LibraryThingA riveting story of a spy and his disillusion with the Soviet system and his dilemma in betraying it. Some of the situations are funny and perhaps 007 is not so fictional. And don't clean up around park benches too much you might be endangering world peace. Read full review
Ađrar útgáfur - View all
The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War Ben Macintyre Engin sýnishorn í bođi - 2018 |
The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War Ben Macintyre Engin sýnishorn í bođi - 2018 |
The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War Ben Macintyre Engin sýnishorn í bođi - 2019 |
Common terms and phrases
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Bókfrćđilegar upplýsingar
| Titill | The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War |
| Höfundur | Ben Macintyre |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Útgefandi | Crown, 2018 |
| ISBN | 1101904208, 9781101904206 |
| Length | 384 síđur |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |