The Spy and the Traitor

The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War

By: Ben Macintyre

Narrated by: John Lee

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the celebrated author of Operation Mincement and The Siege comes the thrilling Americans-era tale of Oleg Gordievsky, the Russian whose secret work helped hasten the end of the Cold War.

“The best true spy story I have ever read.”—JOHN LE CARRÉ

Named a Best Book of the Year by The Economist • Shortlisted for the Bailie Giffords Prize in Nonfiction

If anyone could be considered a Russian counterpart to the infamous British double-agent Kim Philby, it was Oleg Gordievsky. The son of two KGB agents and the product of the best Soviet institutions, the savvy, sophisticated Gordievsky grew to see his nation’s communism as both criminal and philistine.

He took his first posting for Russian intelligence in 1968 and eventually became the Soviet Union’s top man in London, but from 1973 on he was secretly working for MI6. For nearly a decade, as the Cold War reached its twilight, Gordievsky helped the West turn the tables on the KGB, exposing Russian spies and helping to foil countless intelligence plots, as the Soviet leadership grew increasingly paranoid at the United States’s nuclear first-strike capabilities and brought the world closer to the brink of war. Desperate to keep the circle of trust close, MI6 never revealed Gordievsky’s name to its counterparts in the CIA, which in turn grew obsessed with figuring out the identity of Britain’s obviously top-level source. Their obsession ultimately doomed Gordievsky: the CIA officer assigned to identify him was none other than Aldrich Ames, the man who would become infamous for secretly spying for the Soviets.

Unfolding the delicious three-way gamesmanship between America, Britain, and the Soviet Union, and culminating in the gripping cinematic beat-by-beat of Gordievsky’s nail-biting escape from Moscow in 1985, Ben Macintyre has crafted an electrifying account of an international hero. Like the greatest novels of John le Carré, The Spy and the Traitor brings readers deep into a world of treachery and betrayal, where the lines bleed between the personal and the professional, and one man’s hatred of communism had the power to change the future of nations.

Amazing Story!

Well-researched history of a unique and extremely important spy working within the KGB for the Brits. The twists and turns of the story, and the extremely professional handling of this KGB officer, Oleg Gordievsky, made this book more exciting than any fictional spy novel. Not much on the CIA turncoat, Aldrich Ames, the "Traitor" in the book, but enough where you learned how and when and why Ames gave up so many key agents, including Gordievsky. The story is exciting to the end, including the implausible exfiltration of Gordievsky from the Soviet Union in a plan that could have gone wrong — and almost did — in so many ways.

John Lee is a top-notch narrator, with all the right attributes of diction, emphasis, fluidity, and drama one would want for a book with this continuing level of excitement.

Patriotism Supercedes Stupid Cultists

Communism was a cult of beliefs. Tyranny is a cult of personality. The first was undermined by patriots who realized the danger. The latter is more dangerous because the believers swallow lies with relish but don't see them as lies. We need more patriots to overcome tyranny. Gordievski should be the model to destroy tryants.

Outstanding!

This ‘audiobook’ has been narrated in a way all audiobooks should be.
John Lee has done an outstanding job. He is someone who knows how to read/narrate prose. I have enjoyed listening to several, but not all, audiobooks. The latter were all returned simply because of ‘narrator assault’ on my ears, and insult to my intelligence. I recently returned Roland Philipp’s “A Spy Named Orphan” for this very reason. Unless I buy a hard copy of that book I will never know if the book was well written and poorly narrated, or badly written and badly narrated.
However, Ben Macintyre’s “The Spy and The Traitor” is only been well written, but outstandingly (if this word exists) narrated.
Anyone taking notice of this review should keep an eye open for more Ben Macintyre, and more John Lee. I don’t think I have enjoyed an audiobook more than this one.
Simply outstanding!

Intriguing Insights on KBG/MI 6

Loved this book.
It engrossed me with such cool spy craft and history.
I would highly recommend it. I loved the follow up of where the players of the international are now (ish) and vital ops that shaped the western world political scene

USSR sucks lol

This is an incredible story. It actually made me look forward to my 1hr+ commute.