The Spy and the Traitor The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre
Brand: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
Product Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The celebrated author of Double Cross and Rogue Heroes returns with his greatest spy story yet a thrilling Americansera 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 CARR 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 doubleagent 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 nations communism as both criminal and philistine. He took his first posting for Russian intelligence in 1968 and eventually became the Soviet Unions 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 Statess nuclear firststrike capabilities and brought the world closer to the brink of war. Desperate to keep the circle of trust close MI6 never revealed Gordievskys name to its counterparts in the CIA which in turn grew obsessed with figuring out the identity of Britains obviously toplevel 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 threeway gamesmanship between America Britain and the Soviet Union and culminating in the gripping cinematic beatbybeat of Gordievskys nailbiting escape from Moscow in 1985 Ben Macintyres latest may be his best yet. Like the greatest novels of John le Carr it brings readers deep into a world of treachery and betrayal where the lines bleed between the personal and the professional and one mans hatred of communism had the power to change the future of nations. show more
Condition : New
Author : Ben Macintyre
Weight : 455.66
Publisher : Crown Publishing Group NY
Language : English
EAN : 9781101904213
ISBN10 : 1101904216
Format : Paperback
Date of Publication : 20151013
Place of Publication : New York United States
Pagination : NA
Dimensions : 132 X 203 X 22mm