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 57
Síđa
It took less than a minute to spring the locks on the front door of the flat on the eighth floor of 103 Leninsky Prospekt, a Moscow tower block occupied by KGB officers and their families. While two men in gloves and overalls set about ...
It took less than a minute to spring the locks on the front door of the flat on the eighth floor of 103 Leninsky Prospekt, a Moscow tower block occupied by KGB officers and their families. While two men in gloves and overalls set about ...
Síđa
He had not been inside the family flat since January. The first lock on the front door opened easily, and then the second. But the door would not budge. The third lock on the door, an old-fashioned dead bolt dating back to the ...
He had not been inside the family flat since January. The first lock on the front door opened easily, and then the second. But the door would not budge. The third lock on the door, an old-fashioned dead bolt dating back to the ...
Síđa
He now lived in a comfortable flat in Moscow, attended by minders, “an Englishman to his fingertips,” as one KGB officer put it, reading the cricket scores in old copies of The Times, eating Oxford marmalade, and frequently drinking ...
He now lived in a comfortable flat in Moscow, attended by minders, “an Englishman to his fingertips,” as one KGB officer put it, reading the cricket scores in old copies of The Times, eating Oxford marmalade, and frequently drinking ...
Síđa
Like Oleg, Yelena longed to travel abroad, and imagined a life far beyond the confines of the cramped flat where she lived with her parents and five siblings. Gordievsky's few previous relationships had been brief and unsatisfying.
Like Oleg, Yelena longed to travel abroad, and imagined a life far beyond the confines of the cramped flat where she lived with her parents and five siblings. Gordievsky's few previous relationships had been brief and unsatisfying.
Síđa
While they were out, PET entered their flat and planted listening devices. Gordievsky had been somewhat suspicious of the invitation from the Danish couple and so, in accordance with his School 101 training, he had taken the precaution ...
While they were out, PET entered their flat and planted listening devices. Gordievsky had been somewhat suspicious of the invitation from the Danish couple and so, in accordance with his School 101 training, he had taken the precaution ...
What people are saying - Write a review
User ratings
| 5 stars |
| ||
| 4 stars |
| ||
| 3 stars |
| ||
| 2 stars |
| ||
| 1 star |
|
Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified
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
able agent already Ames appeared arrived Ascot asked began believe Bettaney border Britain British Bromhead Brown called Center chief close Cold colleagues Danish Directorate embassy escape espionage felt finally Finland flat Foot Foreign going Gorbachev Gordievsky hand head immediately important inside intelligence KGB officer knew known later leaving Leila lived London look Lyubimov meeting minutes months Moscow moved needed never offered Oleg once Operation Party passed person PIMLICO political prepared Price question recruited remained returned revealed rezident road running Russian secret secretary seemed sent side signal Soviet Union spies station surveillance telephone tell Thatcher thought told took train trying turned waiting wanted West Western wife wondered wrote
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 |