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The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War

byBen Macintyre
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Top positive review

All positive reviews›
Charles Scott
5.0 out of 5 starsHot-property prospect keeps business executive up late at night.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 28, 2018
The Spy and the Traitor, by Ben Macintyre, published in 2018, is the definitive, highly informative, non-fictional account of the defection of a senior-level Soviet spy. He decided to go to the West in the summer of 1985 amidst a flurry of political instability and an uncertain future in the Kremlin. The book is jam-packed with significant historical events taking place on a massive global scale, many of which most of us have all but forgotten, if we knew about them at all. For example, Stalin's purge of 1936-38, the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956, the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the Soviet suppression of the Spring uprising in Czechoslovakia in 1968, and Britain's expulsion of 105 key Soviet intelligence officers in 1971.
Are we beginning to see a pattern here? Is history repeating itself? It's like looking at your reflection in a two-way mirror. You see life from "Both Sides, Now," as in the Joni Mitchell song from many moons ago.
Be that as it may, the book depicts interesting, biographical information about some of the most famous (or infamous) spies of the twentieth century from the U.K., the U.S., and the U.S.S.R. An excellent selection of photographs is included, which represents a virtual "Who's Who" gallery in high-resolution from the shadowy world of cloak and dagger. The book takes you on a virtual tour of the most conservative hot-beds of intrigue you can imagine from around the globe. Make no mistake about it. It's a no-holds-barred, kiss-and-tell book. You can hardly miss, skimming the pages of this book, if you're on a fact-finding mission concerning the secretive intelligence community operating with impunity in the 1960's to the 1990's. What formerly had been considered classified, closely guarded secrets has suddenly "come alive" and become common knowledge. Shocking! I shiver at the mere thought of another "cold war." To think that all of these events actually transpired before the advent of super-fast, high-volume storage, internet-accessible personal computers, thumb-drives, and the foggy cloud of securely triple-encrypted data is mind-boggling.
"Where is Ed Snowden, when you need him to reset a password?"
Most of all, the book provides keen insight into what it takes to make it to the top of the bureaucratic hierarchy in the corporate boardrooms of spy-craft. You are constantly reminded that longevity is never guaranteed in the spy trade. You find out the hard way that building a successful business career in "Her Majesty's" secret service is definitely no accident.
A good spy (and author) can fully describe, characterize, criticize, evaluate, and assess his subject within the space of two or three paragraphs, pointing out all of his flaws, failures, faults, weaknesses, shortcomings, and inadequacies in the process. He knows what he's up against. He reads his adversaries like a book. He knows their limits.
Good luck with that, James! There are ramifications for your actions. You're either on your way up or on your way out the door, when you mix and mingle with that sort of crowd.
R. Royce rode the beach cruiser in a northerly direction to the park proceeding at a pleasant, leisurely pace. He stopped and leaned the bike against the trunk of an old walnut tree, to walk alongside a clear running creek. Oftentimes, he enjoyed reveling in and communing with nature. The weather was warm and sunny, for a winter day. The winds were calm. He noticed the brown paper grocery bag through the branches of a tremendously large, towering maple tree, all camouflaged and concealed by an abundance of leaves. One principal branch had fallen into a great depression in the muddy embankment, due to a lightning strike. It too was covered over with leaves, and partially hidden from the view of prying eyes behind some dense undergrowth and the trunk of a fallen oak. He quickly retrieved the item, then walked back to the bike. He placed the lunch-sack size bag inside the water-proof, rip-stop fabric bike pack which had been velcro-ed on top of the bronze anodized-aluminum rack, affixed to the back of the bike. The metal rack had been firmly attached to the titanium frame with small stainless steel bolts, nuts, and washers, and fit stylishly over the rear wheel. The flat, broad surface of the rack thus placed in this manner had the added advantage of preventing water from spraying up his backside when he rode through water puddles on the sidewalks and in the roadway, much in the same way as a curved metal fender skirting would, but without the narrow space between the tire and the fender becoming clogged up with mud and debris, causing the bike to drag, and not roll as freely, almost effortlessly, as it should. He truly loved the technology, innovation, and ingenuity behind fine craftsmanship.
He climbed aboard the cruiser bike, thought about poor "Pee Wee Herman," and rolled away swiftly downhill. He was elated, and accelerated. It went faster than usual.
"Not bad for a day's work," said Royce, having returned to the apartment, well-exercised and exhilarated. He verified the contents of the bag, which might have contained sandwiches and cans of soda for an impromptu picnic. Except it didn't.
"Don't quit your day job," said Meghan, his constant traveling companion and business associate, seated on a flowery sofa in the living room.
"Some people would kill for a 'Pay-Day' like this," he said, taking a bite out of a warm portion of fruitcake, the shape of a candy bar. He began stacking bundles of $100 bills in two neat piles. The total added up precisely to a total of $65,000.
"One for me, one for you. One for you, two for me," she recited.
"Fair is fair," he said. "Who said money doesn't grow on trees?"
"As long as the assignment doesn't involve extortion, blackmail, or serious bodily injury, we can't lose," said Meghan.
"Simple arithmetic, security and surveillance are all important," said Royce. "Today's task reminds me of the country and western music we heard broadcasted over the public television station airwaves the other night. Two musicians were playing guitars, one acoustic, one electric."
"Their instrumentalist performance was flawless. They sounded absolutely fabulous. One of them sang a song, called 'The Walk of Life.' I don't think I'd exactly call it a recent hit. It sounded more like a popular Cajun tune of the 60's or 70's," said Meghan. "Sticks right in your brain."
Royce pulled out an old guitar case that was "stashed behind the couch," reminiscent of Glen Campbell, on his way to Arizona. He extracted an old wooden dulcimer and began to strum. She began to hum. She scraped a bottle cap over a corrugated, dull gray, galvanized metal wash-board. Ecstatic, they played their roles to the hilt.
"You don't think, they'll miss the money, do you?" he asked.
"Not really. There's plenty more where that came from." she replied, confidently. "Cornelius said he would help the 'Small-Fry' out with a safer, more lucrative part-time job. It's honest work, with incentive pay. The job satisfaction he gains will make it even more rewarding in the long run."
"You're suggesting that 'the Rascal' keeps his job and isn't incarcerated?" asked Royce.
"What are friends for if they can't bail you out, when you make a drastic error in judgement that has the serious consequences and far-reaching implications of an international incident?" asked Meghan. "Selling public information for the greater common good may not seem to be that big of a deal, in all fairness, when your loyalist customer has an obvious need to know and the means to pay big bucks for it. Yet, as we have learned from past experience, there are more important issues at work in the marketplace than the latest fashion trends."
"However convoluted your logic is, I have to admit that making a fashion statement should be a matter of personal taste and preference," said Royce, reflecting for a moment on the gravity of the situation. "The affected individual must ultimately, rationally, and creatively decide for himself which role he is to play. Others will judge him accordingly, however wisely, collectively and humanely."
"Finders, keepers," said Alexis Sue, having been briefed about the operation on the following day. "Losers, weepers!"
"Right," said Cornelius Korn, the most far-sighted and trustworthy member of the group of long-time business associates. "Except, we should have something to trade of equal value, for a win-win situation all the way around."
"They lost their investment capital in a volatile trading day on Wall Street. Our contact in Washington will square the deal. Shall we move on to new business?" asked Royce. He was growing impatient.
"Okay, done deal, said Korn. "By the way, do you know anything about the latest fighter jets?" he inquired, casually changing the subject.
"Not much," said Royce. "You'd need a squadron of military pilots to brief you."
"I can't help you in that department, either," said Meghan. "I've retired and lost my FAA certification."
"In that case, we should stick to strictly civilian pursuits," said Korn. "Keep a low profile and our feet firmly planted on solid ground."
"Agreed," said Royce. "I think we're running low on ammunition, anyway."
"We can always fall back and resume work on our mining interests," suggested Alexis Sue.
"Let's do it," said Meghan. "We're all out of hyper-sonic projectiles."
"We pull the plug on this operation, as of now," said Korn. "I'll notify Washington."
"See you back at the ranch," said Royce.
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Top critical review

All critical reviews›
John B. Rogers
3.0 out of 5 starsDetailed story about most important USSR spy to defect
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 1, 2022
The Spy and the Traitor Ben Mcintyre

If you want to read about spy craft in (sometimes excruciating) detail, this is your book. It is an engaging story of the only significant Soviet spy to escape the USSR. Ti is historical fiction (remembered and imagined conversations and the like) told in reportage fashion. The story is complicated, and there are many players, some of whom (e.g., Aldrich Ames) come in and go out of the story. Macintyre follows a linear timeline, and uses the newspaper style of injecting a description of each character as that character appears in the time sequence. The multiple characters, linear timeline and newspaper style mean a lot of extra words to try to muscle the confusion inherent in the story into readable form. For example, Aldrich Ames appears on page 123 as an unhappy, cash-strapped, mid-level CIA employee. He reappears in the timeline on page 201, and reader gets a whole reintroduction when a word or two would have done. Likewise, it’s fairly common for Mcintyre to explain a concept, then nail down a conclusion that reader has already seen in the discussion. Perhaps the final challenge in writing the book was the fact that a lot of the spy craft, at least in this telling, was boring. Move forward an inch, back three-quarters, forward again. The trip across Russia, then Finland moves well, and in the telling of it at least, the excruciating detail is fascinating.
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From the United States

Charles Scott
5.0 out of 5 stars Hot-property prospect keeps business executive up late at night.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 28, 2018
Verified Purchase
The Spy and the Traitor, by Ben Macintyre, published in 2018, is the definitive, highly informative, non-fictional account of the defection of a senior-level Soviet spy. He decided to go to the West in the summer of 1985 amidst a flurry of political instability and an uncertain future in the Kremlin. The book is jam-packed with significant historical events taking place on a massive global scale, many of which most of us have all but forgotten, if we knew about them at all. For example, Stalin's purge of 1936-38, the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956, the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the Soviet suppression of the Spring uprising in Czechoslovakia in 1968, and Britain's expulsion of 105 key Soviet intelligence officers in 1971.
Are we beginning to see a pattern here? Is history repeating itself? It's like looking at your reflection in a two-way mirror. You see life from "Both Sides, Now," as in the Joni Mitchell song from many moons ago.
Be that as it may, the book depicts interesting, biographical information about some of the most famous (or infamous) spies of the twentieth century from the U.K., the U.S., and the U.S.S.R. An excellent selection of photographs is included, which represents a virtual "Who's Who" gallery in high-resolution from the shadowy world of cloak and dagger. The book takes you on a virtual tour of the most conservative hot-beds of intrigue you can imagine from around the globe. Make no mistake about it. It's a no-holds-barred, kiss-and-tell book. You can hardly miss, skimming the pages of this book, if you're on a fact-finding mission concerning the secretive intelligence community operating with impunity in the 1960's to the 1990's. What formerly had been considered classified, closely guarded secrets has suddenly "come alive" and become common knowledge. Shocking! I shiver at the mere thought of another "cold war." To think that all of these events actually transpired before the advent of super-fast, high-volume storage, internet-accessible personal computers, thumb-drives, and the foggy cloud of securely triple-encrypted data is mind-boggling.
"Where is Ed Snowden, when you need him to reset a password?"
Most of all, the book provides keen insight into what it takes to make it to the top of the bureaucratic hierarchy in the corporate boardrooms of spy-craft. You are constantly reminded that longevity is never guaranteed in the spy trade. You find out the hard way that building a successful business career in "Her Majesty's" secret service is definitely no accident.
A good spy (and author) can fully describe, characterize, criticize, evaluate, and assess his subject within the space of two or three paragraphs, pointing out all of his flaws, failures, faults, weaknesses, shortcomings, and inadequacies in the process. He knows what he's up against. He reads his adversaries like a book. He knows their limits.
Good luck with that, James! There are ramifications for your actions. You're either on your way up or on your way out the door, when you mix and mingle with that sort of crowd.
R. Royce rode the beach cruiser in a northerly direction to the park proceeding at a pleasant, leisurely pace. He stopped and leaned the bike against the trunk of an old walnut tree, to walk alongside a clear running creek. Oftentimes, he enjoyed reveling in and communing with nature. The weather was warm and sunny, for a winter day. The winds were calm. He noticed the brown paper grocery bag through the branches of a tremendously large, towering maple tree, all camouflaged and concealed by an abundance of leaves. One principal branch had fallen into a great depression in the muddy embankment, due to a lightning strike. It too was covered over with leaves, and partially hidden from the view of prying eyes behind some dense undergrowth and the trunk of a fallen oak. He quickly retrieved the item, then walked back to the bike. He placed the lunch-sack size bag inside the water-proof, rip-stop fabric bike pack which had been velcro-ed on top of the bronze anodized-aluminum rack, affixed to the back of the bike. The metal rack had been firmly attached to the titanium frame with small stainless steel bolts, nuts, and washers, and fit stylishly over the rear wheel. The flat, broad surface of the rack thus placed in this manner had the added advantage of preventing water from spraying up his backside when he rode through water puddles on the sidewalks and in the roadway, much in the same way as a curved metal fender skirting would, but without the narrow space between the tire and the fender becoming clogged up with mud and debris, causing the bike to drag, and not roll as freely, almost effortlessly, as it should. He truly loved the technology, innovation, and ingenuity behind fine craftsmanship.
He climbed aboard the cruiser bike, thought about poor "Pee Wee Herman," and rolled away swiftly downhill. He was elated, and accelerated. It went faster than usual.
"Not bad for a day's work," said Royce, having returned to the apartment, well-exercised and exhilarated. He verified the contents of the bag, which might have contained sandwiches and cans of soda for an impromptu picnic. Except it didn't.
"Don't quit your day job," said Meghan, his constant traveling companion and business associate, seated on a flowery sofa in the living room.
"Some people would kill for a 'Pay-Day' like this," he said, taking a bite out of a warm portion of fruitcake, the shape of a candy bar. He began stacking bundles of $100 bills in two neat piles. The total added up precisely to a total of $65,000.
"One for me, one for you. One for you, two for me," she recited.
"Fair is fair," he said. "Who said money doesn't grow on trees?"
"As long as the assignment doesn't involve extortion, blackmail, or serious bodily injury, we can't lose," said Meghan.
"Simple arithmetic, security and surveillance are all important," said Royce. "Today's task reminds me of the country and western music we heard broadcasted over the public television station airwaves the other night. Two musicians were playing guitars, one acoustic, one electric."
"Their instrumentalist performance was flawless. They sounded absolutely fabulous. One of them sang a song, called 'The Walk of Life.' I don't think I'd exactly call it a recent hit. It sounded more like a popular Cajun tune of the 60's or 70's," said Meghan. "Sticks right in your brain."
Royce pulled out an old guitar case that was "stashed behind the couch," reminiscent of Glen Campbell, on his way to Arizona. He extracted an old wooden dulcimer and began to strum. She began to hum. She scraped a bottle cap over a corrugated, dull gray, galvanized metal wash-board. Ecstatic, they played their roles to the hilt.
"You don't think, they'll miss the money, do you?" he asked.
"Not really. There's plenty more where that came from." she replied, confidently. "Cornelius said he would help the 'Small-Fry' out with a safer, more lucrative part-time job. It's honest work, with incentive pay. The job satisfaction he gains will make it even more rewarding in the long run."
"You're suggesting that 'the Rascal' keeps his job and isn't incarcerated?" asked Royce.
"What are friends for if they can't bail you out, when you make a drastic error in judgement that has the serious consequences and far-reaching implications of an international incident?" asked Meghan. "Selling public information for the greater common good may not seem to be that big of a deal, in all fairness, when your loyalist customer has an obvious need to know and the means to pay big bucks for it. Yet, as we have learned from past experience, there are more important issues at work in the marketplace than the latest fashion trends."
"However convoluted your logic is, I have to admit that making a fashion statement should be a matter of personal taste and preference," said Royce, reflecting for a moment on the gravity of the situation. "The affected individual must ultimately, rationally, and creatively decide for himself which role he is to play. Others will judge him accordingly, however wisely, collectively and humanely."
"Finders, keepers," said Alexis Sue, having been briefed about the operation on the following day. "Losers, weepers!"
"Right," said Cornelius Korn, the most far-sighted and trustworthy member of the group of long-time business associates. "Except, we should have something to trade of equal value, for a win-win situation all the way around."
"They lost their investment capital in a volatile trading day on Wall Street. Our contact in Washington will square the deal. Shall we move on to new business?" asked Royce. He was growing impatient.
"Okay, done deal, said Korn. "By the way, do you know anything about the latest fighter jets?" he inquired, casually changing the subject.
"Not much," said Royce. "You'd need a squadron of military pilots to brief you."
"I can't help you in that department, either," said Meghan. "I've retired and lost my FAA certification."
"In that case, we should stick to strictly civilian pursuits," said Korn. "Keep a low profile and our feet firmly planted on solid ground."
"Agreed," said Royce. "I think we're running low on ammunition, anyway."
"We can always fall back and resume work on our mining interests," suggested Alexis Sue.
"Let's do it," said Meghan. "We're all out of hyper-sonic projectiles."
"We pull the plug on this operation, as of now," said Korn. "I'll notify Washington."
"See you back at the ranch," said Royce.
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AxeMan
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book. Filled in many holes in my understanding of global tradecraft. Maybe.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 8, 2023
Verified Purchase
The most interesting facet of this examination of the rise and fall of Cold War politics was the revelations regarding Aldrich Ames. I was aware of his treacheries, but discovering the links to earlier activities was remarkable. What a strange world we live in. Or die from.
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Charles K. Sherwood
5.0 out of 5 stars True life Spy novel
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 23, 2023
Verified Purchase
If you love LeCarre or Ludlum or Vince Flynn then this is the book for you. An amazing real life true spy story of a KGB agent who flips to MI6. One of the best books I’ve ever read.
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Texas88Fan
5.0 out of 5 stars Very well written true story
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 9, 2023
Verified Purchase
True spy thriller with input from the real people involved.
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Charles Salmans
4.0 out of 5 stars Rare Penetration of the KGB in the Soviet Era
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 12, 2018
Verified Purchase
Oleg Gordievsky was a KGB spy who underwent an ideological conversion and was the rare individual who passed secrets to the British not for money but for principle, according to author Ben Macintyre.

Certainly in the period from the 1930s through the 1960s, the Soviet Union had much more success in penetrating Western democracies than those democracies had in placing a mole in a closed Soviet society. Some Soviet success was rooted in the ideological attractiveness of Communism which reached its zenith during the depression of the 1930s and produced true believers from atom spies Klaus Fuchs, David Greenglass, and Julius Rosenberg to the “Cambridge Five” that included Kim Philby.

But in Macintyre’s telling, the KGB of the 1970s lacked the ideological fervor of an earlier era and was not as effective as it had been in previous decades. Nevertheless, in the battle of spy vs. spy, the Soviets found that with enough money they could buy spies. Those particularly susceptible to selling out were experiencing personal and professional disappointment, and money became a compensating factor in self worth.

Macintyre is at his best in describing British management of Gordievsky once he made contact to pass along secrets. Very few within MI6 knew of this Soviet spy, due to the lessons learned some years earlier. Kim Philby, who had risen to the highest levels of British intelligence, passed along names of those spying for the West to the Soviet Union. A great deal of thought was given to how and when to act on knowledge acquired through Gordievsky, so as to ensure that his cover was not blown. The British also found ways to discredit Gordievsky’s London superiors and thus open the path for their spy to be promoted to head the KGB in Britain.

Unfortunately, the Soviets had their own spy, Aldrich Ames, who had become the head of the CIA’s Soviet counterintelligence. Ames’ personal life was in disarray and he had met a woman with expensive tastes. He was therefore eager to sell information to the Soviet Union for money. It was Ames who blew Gordievsky’s cover and that of a score or more of those in Soviet Union who were working for the West. Many identified by Ames were arrested, tortured, and killed.

The author notes that spy bureaucracies, whether Soviet, British, or American are imperfect. The Soviets praised KGB teams that reported suspicious activity. Those that did not were sharply criticized. This hardly rewarded objectivity. When someone within the KGB made a mistake (as in losing track of Gordievsky’s movements), the inclination was to cover up the error. Such frailties led to bad decisions.

Similarly, in appointing Ames to a position of importance, the CIA failed to note the danger signs in terms of behavior and spending that should have revealed a traitor in their midst.

Macintyre provides the reader with a spine-tingling description of Gordievsky’s response to his and his family’s sudden recall to Moscow and to the interrogation he faced as a suspected spy. In an elaborate communication with London, a plan to spirit Gordievsky out of Russia was put into action.

The author is on debatable ground when it comes to analyzing the larger strategic implications of Gordievsky’s work for the West.

Macintyre agues that Gordievsky averted nuclear war in 1983 by warning his British contacts that Yuri Andropov, head of the KGB, believed that the West was preparing a preemptive nuclear strike on the Soviet Union. As the author observes, the first rule of intelligence should be never to ask for confirmation of something you already believe. In this case, Andropov was convinced that NATO war games, an exercise only, were in fact preparation for imminent war. When Gordievsky alerted the West to the fact that the Soviets were considering their own preemptive nuclear strike against the West, the war games were sharply curtailed.

Macintyre also argues Gordievsky advised Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan on how to negotiate with Gorbachev. Not a lot of hard evidence is offered to support this contention, which seems a stretch.

In fleeing the Soviet Union, Gordievsky abandoned his wife and two young daughters. It was only years later that the British negotiated for his family to join the ex-spy in exile in England. But the marriage dissolved and at the end of the story we are presented with a lonely man living incognito somewhere in Britain. Putin reputedly is determined to execute former KGB officers who turned traitor. It is unlikely that Godievsky can relax in his old age, decades after his decision to spy for the West.
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Terry melton
4.0 out of 5 stars Summer reading
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 7, 2023
Verified Purchase
Deep, spy novel involving bad persons
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oldmanwalking
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing account of a KGB Agent’s spying for the free World
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 10, 2023
Verified Purchase
First time I have read this author. Amazingly riveting, fast paced, very well researched, detailed true story written with incredible detail. I recall hearing about the Olga Gordievsky defection when it became public in the late 1980s, but never knew the full impact on Global affairs or the extent and risk taken by all involved until now, Highly recommended!
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Lesmitch
5.0 out of 5 stars Great product and service
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 30, 2023
Verified Purchase
The book was in excellent condition and it arrived within a few days of placing the order. All around excellent experience
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Laurence R. Bachmann
VINE VOICE
5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid history & a gripping read
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 14, 2018
Verified Purchase
The Spy and The Traitor is touted in its subhead as "the greatest espionage story ever told." That isn't just publisher hype. The real events and the story of Oleg Gordievsky, KGB officer and diplomat reads like something from a John LeCarre or Robert Ludlum story...except it's true and marvelously documented. Raised by a father and older brother who both served devotedly and unquestioningly in the KGB (dad worked through Stalin's purges and survived in the KGB's precursor agency). Loyalty to the service then would seem to be a given--betraying the agency and its million members (you read that right) would be like sabotaging the family's business. Yet events and history continue to flummox human expectations.

First the invasion of Hungary, then the erection of the Berlin Wall (which Gordievsky was present to see) and finally the brutal crushing of the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia all drove this KGB officer further and further away from the party. Exposure to the West in Copenhagen and later in London provided a first hand taste of liberty and freedom. It served as the final push into the eager and eternally grateful arms of his M16 handlers. The double agent provided them with not merely a trove of concrete information but invaluable insight into the workings of the KGB and planning of the Soviet Leadership. It is no exaggeration to say Gordievsky was our Kim Philby. The details of these meetings, contacts, "drops", etc. and how spies operated from the end WWII until the dissolution of the Soviet empire is fascinating and novelistic in the telling. Gordievsky's escape or "exfiltration" from the USSR by M16 is nothing short of breathtaking--a Bourne Identity moment.

Best of all though is the historical and moral context that gives readers a perspective of events' meanings. Ben McIntyre is a masterful storyteller and detailed chronicler. He thoroughly but concisely points out the import and value of Grodievsky's insights--particularly warning the Brits and thereby the Americans that the Soviet leader Yuri Andropov genuinely believed the West was intent upon a first nuclear strike. Appreciating that paranoia can be as perilous as animus, first Thatcher and then Reagan worked to assuage Soviet fears. It was Gordievsky who prepped both sides for successful summits in the 80s and it was he who counseled wisely to neither disband nor include the USSR in the SDI or Star Wars initiative. Rather, ratchet up the pressure and they would go bankrupt trying to keep up, which is precisely what happened.

Gordievsky certainly didn't single handedly end the cold war--there were dozens of events and officials who played a significant role. But Oleg Gordievsky was surely in the first rank of those who made a valuable contribution earning the appreciation of Reagan, Thatcher, the CIA, M16 and yes, QEII (the monarch, not the ocean liner). Best of all, McIntryre doesn't put a patriotic gloss on his subject's behavior. What Gordievsky did was of enormous benefit to democracy and the West but it destroyed his marriage, implicated his wife and children as well as family and friends who all paid some price for his defection. In short, his actions both saved and ruined lives and the choices he made can be rightfully regarded as both morally defensible and appalling or enraging to those who knew him. Unsurprisingly, his marriage failed and most Russian friends regard him with disdain and disgust. In the western intelligence community he is a hero.

This is terrific, important history and a wonderfully well-told tale. Enjoy!
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David Shulman
VINE VOICE
5.0 out of 5 stars Mrs. Thatcher's Spy
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 10, 2018
Verified Purchase
It is not for nothing that John Le Carre noted in a front cover blurb “the best true spy story I have ever read.” Ben Macintyre’s biography of KGB Colonel and MI6 spy Oleg Gordievsky reads like a novel. His description of Gordievsky’s exfiltration from Moscow by MI6 under the watchful eyes of the KGB has all the hallmarks of a tension-packed Hollywood spy drama and that alone is worth the price of the book.

The story begins with Gordievsky growing up as the son of a KGB general who becomes disillusioned with life under Soviet communism. He follows in his father’s footsteps and is recruited by the KGB. He is initially stationed in Denmark and there he is willingly recruited by MI6. As he rises in the KGB bureaucracy he become ever more important to the British. Along the way he marries, divorces remarries and has two daughters.

Where Gordievsky enters history is when he becomes a senior political officer in the KGB’s London rezindentura in the early 1980s. While there he reports to his MI6 handlers that the Soviets actually believed that the United States was going to launch a first strike on the Soviet Union. So paranoid is KGB head and future general secretary Yuri Andropov that he sets up Operation RYaN to find evidence of plans for a first strike. As in most bureaucracies the KGB spies produce such evidence thereby exacerbating his paranoia. The same thing happened with the CIA when it was ordered to look for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq twenty years later.

Compounding the problem was that at about the same time in 1983 NATO ordered up its massive Able Archer exercise which was a practice drill to deter a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. To the Russians it looked like a precursor to war. It was Gordievsky who tells the British of the Russian fears who then relay that information to the CIA. Several authors have noted that had not both sides deescalated, nuclear war was on the table. Gordievsky’s information to both
Thatcher and Reagan was influential in bringing about from the de-escalation.

As the Soviet heir apparent, Gorbachev met with Margaret Thatcher in London in 1984. Here Gordievsky’s role is crucial because be briefed both Thatcher and Gorbachev as MI6 spy and KGB political officer on negotiating strategy. The meeting was a big success and Thatcher noted that Gorbachev was a man she could do business with. The end of the Cold War was now more than a pipe dream. Later, after his exfiltration, Gordievsky meets with Reagan to advise him on negotiating strategy for an upcoming meeting with Gorbachev.

But wait, what caused Gordievsky to be exfiltrated from Moscow, especially after he was made the Rezident of the KGB’s London office? In very short form the CIA is jealous of MI6 and wants to know who their source is. They soon find out and his name ends up on the desk of Aldrich Ames who was selling secrets to KGB officers in Washington. His betrayal leads to the death of scores of CIA operatives and sources in Russia and ultimately to the KGB investigation of Gordievsky. In Macintyre’s view Ames is a traitor who sold out his country for big bucks and Gordievsky is an honorable spy seeking to better his country.

This is a great book that I couldn’t put down and I highly recommend it. As an added plus you learn quite a bit of tradecraft.
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