The Anatomy of a Traitor: A History of Espionage and Betrayal

By: Michael Smith

Narrated by: Richard Attlee

In this compelling investigation, Michael Smith explores the critical moment in a spy's life: that split-second decision to embrace a double life. Through in-depth insider knowledge, he also uncovers new and unknown cases, including ISIS, President Trump's links with Russia and Edward Snowden's role as a whistle-blower to offer compelling psychological portraits of these men and women, homing unerringly on the fault lines and shady corners of their characters, their weaknesses and their strengths, the lies they tell other people, and the lies they always end up telling themselves.

©2017 Michael Smith (P)2017 Oakhill Publishing

Good overview of spy motivations

A very good overview of multiple espionage cases with some details I haven’t seen in other books. The author breaks the book into sections by the standard motivation factors seen in most studies of spy cases. There were some details in several cases that I hadn’t read in other books, so I thought this was a worthwhile listen. The narrator is decent when he isn’t affecting some ridiculous accents and mispronouncing non-English words and names.