The Spy and the Traitor

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

*The No.1 Sunday Times Bestseller*
*Shortlisted for the 2018 Baillie Gifford Prize*
*Bill Gates' Top 5 Books for 2020*

'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 AGENT SONYA IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW

© Ben MacIntyre 2018 (P) Penguin Audio 2018

Critics Review

An incredible true life spy story...Every word ramps up the tension as you're drawn deeper into the danger

Mail on Sunday
If any spy writer were to put it in a novel, it would not be believed. But, blow by blow, trick by trick, it is all in Macintyre's book
Fredrick Forsyth
He writes like a novelist. One of the last chapters is as tense as any thriller. No wonder le Carré liked it
Daily Express
Meticulously researched, splendidly told, immensely entertaining and often very moving
John le Carré 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'

User Reviews

Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
5.0
5.0
Another brilliant book by Ben Macintyre. Thoroughly engrossing. Would be unbelievable if it was fiction.
PBee 04/09/2025
5.0
5.0
Very interesting, a true spy story!
peterstod 22/04/2024
5.0
5.0
David Turner 21/05/2023

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