*The No.1 Sunday Times Bestseller*
*A BBC Between the Covers book club pick*
*Shortlisted for the 2018 Baillie Gifford Prize*
'THE BEST TRUE SPY STORY I HAVE EVER READ' JOHN LE CARRE
An exciting Cold War story about a KGB double agent, by one of Britain's greatest historians and the ultimate gift for anyone who loves a good spy thriller!
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 AGENT SONYA IS AVAILABLE TO BUY NOW
Ben Macintyre is the multimillion-copy bestselling author of books including Agent Sonya, SAS: Rogue Heroes, The Spy and the Traitor, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat and A Spy Among Friends. He is a columnist and Associate Editor at The Times, and has worked as the newspaper's correspondent in New York, Paris and Washington. His books are frequently made into films and television series.
Title: The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War
Author: MacIntyre, Ben
ISBN: 9780241972137
Binding:
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Publication Date: 2019-05-30
Number of Pages: 384
Weight: 0.3201 kg
The best true spy story I have ever read -- John le Carre
[A] captivating espionage tale. 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. Macintyre has produced a timely and insightful page-turner. * Publishers Weekly *
Meticulously researched, splendidly told, immensely entertaining and often very moving -- John le Carre on 'Agent Zigzag'
Impeccably researched, superbly told - by far the best book on the SAS in World War II -- Antony Beevor on 'SAS'
Thrilling. Ben Macintyre is the ideal narrator * Spectator on 'SAS' *
Thorough and highly entertaining. It would be nigh on impossible to praise it too highly * Daily Express on 'SAS' *