The Spy and the Traitor: An incredible espionage and spy thriller and the greatest true story of the Cold War

· Penguin UK
4.7
73 reviews
Ebook
384
Pages
Eligible
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About this ebook

*The No.1 Sunday Times Bestseller*

'THE BEST TRUE SPY STORY I HAVE EVER READ' JOHN LE CARRÉ

A thrilling Cold War story about a KGB double agent, by one of Britain's greatest historians - now with a new afterword

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, COLDITZ, IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW

Ratings and reviews

4.7
73 reviews
Jo Dempsey
November 30, 2018
Can't change the text size on Android tablet, too small for me to read it, without getting a headache, let alone rate fairly☹️
9 people found this review helpful
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Mykola Hudkovych
June 21, 2021
Gripping page-turner. Why read fiction when life create such plots? The only thing remained a mistery to me—was it World Trade Organization or World Health Organization where Oleg's wife worked?
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Lawrence Freeborn
September 17, 2019
Fascinating read about an amazing individual. I wish him and his family well. As others have noted, the text size can't be changed on some devices including iPad.
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About the author

Ben Macintyre is the multimillion-copy bestselling author of books including Colditz, 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. Several of his books have been made into films and television series, including Operation Mincemeat, A Spy Among Friends and SAS: Rogue Heroes.

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