The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre

I’ve read a lot of books and stories about the Cold War and geopolitics in general and I was looking for another interesting read/audio on this topic and this book looked like a safe choice with 5/5 stars review! Wow, Really?!? Of course being written by a British author naturally the narrative would be very biased and tremendously critical towards the regime in the USSR, and I was kind of expecting that, however this is just another level of Western hypocrisy and grotesque propaganda! Big part of the book seems to be based more on one's personal views or interpretations rather than proper investigation and objective research by the author. Ben Macintyre reveals a tale of espionage, betrayal and raw courage that changed the course of the Cold War forever. So began one of the boldest and most extraordinary episodes in the history of spying. The Safeway bag was a signal: to activate his escape plan to be smuggled out of Soviet Russia. 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. The bag alone was mildly conspicuous, printed with the red logo of Safeway, the British supermarket.

In his grey suit and tie, he looked like any other Soviet citizen.

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. Shortlisted for the 2018 Baillie Gifford PrizeĪ thrilling Cold War story about a KGB double agent, by one of Britain's greatest historians - now with a new afterword.

The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre