The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War
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.
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Community Reviews
PART I
1: The KGB
8/10
Love it! Slow start with an intro to a KGB family where the father and both sons work for KGB. The mother hates the regime though. We hear about KGB and USSR. But it’s very little info. I would have loved a full chapter just on KGB alone to understand what they are actually doing.
2: Uncle Gormsson
8,5/10
It’s hard to understand who does what or why. We just meet characters and hear stories. But what does KBG even do? Oleg Gordievsky’s early days are explored. His brother drinks himself to death. So practically dying a Soviet KGB hero. Giving Oleg the status to be allowed to be sent back to Denmark. Initially in Denmark he was one of many KGB agents. They all enjoyed the freedom in the country. Oleg even bought homo magazines to show his wife. Making PET, the Danish KGB, think he was gay and try to seduce him and trick him. But even though both sides wanted to work together Oleg was too shy to contact them. And PET was too stupid to figure out he wasn’t gay so they never got to him.
3: SUNBEAM
8/10
Recruited on his second Denmark stay. Now he is higher up in the KGB order. He speaks Danish and works focused so he is a big asset and practically the best man there. He got the job because a KGB spy in England had gone over to the British and told them about what the USSR war plans were which gave them an excuse to kick out all KGB agents and Denmark followed suit. At that point they were looking for any Danish language KGB agent left to take over.
4: Green Ink and Microfilm
8/10
Info is being given to MI6 and the marriage is suffering. Oleg finds a lover. But he can’t divorce as KGB punishes that stuff.
5: A Plastic Bag and a Mars Bar
8/10
Going back to Moscow. A divorce make it so that instead of becoming a leader he is demoted out of the secret documents access. KGB wants you to be married so that they can kidnap your wife and children if you try to defect. Yet he wanted to marry his lover.
6: Agent BOOT
8/10
Oleg now learns English to try to get to England as a KGB spy. He gets a visa, but KGB is slow to get him there. Meanwhile he gets access to documents about British agents paid by KGB in Britain. Many are high ranking socialists and Labour Party leaders. He has 2 kids with his new wife. But he doesn’t contact MI6 in USSR as that is very hard and they can’t make it happen.
PART II
7: The Safe House
8/10
About Aldrich Ames and then Oleg’s initial reports to the British using his new info. The number of spies and agents is actually extremely small now compared to just decades earlier. KGB is weak.
8: Operation RYAN
8/10
USSR really thinks the West will nuke them to gain power. They tell their agents to find evidence on this and then everything they find is used to confirm this crazy theory. Oleg’s info is now used to convey info to CIA to improve the Cold War situation. But CIA doesn’t know his name.
9: Koba
8/10
A spy in MI5 tries to give the USSR embassy secret files. They never respond to him. The guy who gets the initial secret documents brags about it to Oleg for no good reason. And Oleg reveals this and the spy is soon caught as he is a mental mess and is easy to find.
10: Mr. Collins and Mrs. Thatcher
8/10
Oleg is sent to USSR and now gives MI5 info about how the regime thinks the nuke attack is upcoming. A NATO military test with fake nuke attacks creates an extremely dangerous atmosphere. The new info is now nearly fully shared with CIA as clearly Regan and USA doesn’t understand how USSR is thinking. But soon the USSR leader dies and the extreme focus on the potential nuke attack subsides.
Oleg also get handed contacts by MI6 to make him write proper reports back and get promoted. They even help him write the reports. At times he reveals a bit too great knowledge about Britain secrets and it makes his coworkers ask him questions.
Many spies were kicked out of Britain before. Now MI6 kicks out leaders one at a time to give him more promotions and access to more data.
11: Russian Roulette
7,5/10
Aldrich Ames starts spying for KGB and giving them CIA secrets. CIA was mad about not knowing who the MI6 source was. So they investigated the documents and tracked them to Oleg. Hence Ames has info he can sell about him and all other agents.
Oleg is called back to USSR as there is a huge KGB investigation looking for the British spy. A bit repetitive chapter, but still very good.
PART III
12: Cat and Mouse
8/10
Interrogation. He reveals nothing. But Ames soon gives KGB his name. When you are in USSR and are seen as an enemy you are already in a prison of sorts. Agents track him. There are cameras and mics in his apartment. So they don’t hurry to imprison him.
13: The Dry Cleaner
8/10
The operation to extract Oleg from USSR is under way. It’s extremely hard to even give signals. And the only thing he had to do is be in a place with a certain bag at a certain time. That’s it. Even this is complicated as KGB spies follow them. His wife was brought to USSR to keep them all there. He tries to tell his wife his plan, but he can’t get it across. He plans to escape alone.
14: The Runner
8/10
Escape from USSR. KGB cars follow the diplomat cars where Oleg is supposed to hide in the trunk. Oleg on the other hand runs away from the agents tracking him and takes a train ride to the border alone.
15: Finlandia
7/10
Escape and epilogue. The author tries to play it up too much. It’s fairly direct and simple stuff. You could likely even have disguised him as another person and then hid the other person in some bushes. That would be easier. The guards at the border wouldn’t check for wigs or specific accents and knowledge about certain personal things. The other person could then just travel back to Moscow and act like nothing happened. Weirdly enough such plans are not mentioned.
My final opinion on the book
Very good! This audiobook was great. Addictive, fun, well-written. It’s written in such an accessible way that any topic would sound interesting this way. Here you have secret agents, double-spies, missions, spy tools, embassies, marriages. It’s also set in Denmark, London, and USSR. I have lived in 2 of these countries. Just the fact that it’s partly set in Denmark made me really hype about it. It was such a positive surprise.
The story is cool and short. Nothing much to dislike here and I will FOR SURE read his other spy books. Like… come on, this is written for men like me. I wanted to read a positive book first instead of diving into the Western traitor stuff with people giving names to KGB and getting men killed. Here no one was killed because of Oleg. Actually, he helped all the countries communicate more clearly and removed many evil KGB spies from England who are trained to kidnap and kill.
The story does become basic at times. While it’s always advancing it’s still 1 man doing single things. So it’s an important man, but it at times feels a bit small. The author then tries to spice up the story by adding dramatic narration to smaller spy events. Unfortunately it often doesn’t work. He becomes very repetitive at some points trying to reexplain the danger the 5th time over. And many points are mentioned 7 times over in the book. Instead of diving deeper into KGB history he repeats the same 10 points again and again to fill out the space. You definitely could easily cut 20 pages from the book. It’s not always unwelcomed when stuff is repeated. But I feel like these repetitive 20-30 pages could have had a ton of cool KGB info that the book lacks. The stuff he explains is interesting, but other stories could expand the story.
Overall a small history note. It’s not some great analysis or big history. But it's curious and interesting history no matter how small. And it’s very accessible. There is no reason not to read it unless you are only interested in huge history points.
1: The KGB
8/10
Love it! Slow start with an intro to a KGB family where the father and both sons work for KGB. The mother hates the regime though. We hear about KGB and USSR. But it’s very little info. I would have loved a full chapter just on KGB alone to understand what they are actually doing.
2: Uncle Gormsson
8,5/10
It’s hard to understand who does what or why. We just meet characters and hear stories. But what does KBG even do? Oleg Gordievsky’s early days are explored. His brother drinks himself to death. So practically dying a Soviet KGB hero. Giving Oleg the status to be allowed to be sent back to Denmark. Initially in Denmark he was one of many KGB agents. They all enjoyed the freedom in the country. Oleg even bought homo magazines to show his wife. Making PET, the Danish KGB, think he was gay and try to seduce him and trick him. But even though both sides wanted to work together Oleg was too shy to contact them. And PET was too stupid to figure out he wasn’t gay so they never got to him.
3: SUNBEAM
8/10
Recruited on his second Denmark stay. Now he is higher up in the KGB order. He speaks Danish and works focused so he is a big asset and practically the best man there. He got the job because a KGB spy in England had gone over to the British and told them about what the USSR war plans were which gave them an excuse to kick out all KGB agents and Denmark followed suit. At that point they were looking for any Danish language KGB agent left to take over.
4: Green Ink and Microfilm
8/10
Info is being given to MI6 and the marriage is suffering. Oleg finds a lover. But he can’t divorce as KGB punishes that stuff.
5: A Plastic Bag and a Mars Bar
8/10
Going back to Moscow. A divorce make it so that instead of becoming a leader he is demoted out of the secret documents access. KGB wants you to be married so that they can kidnap your wife and children if you try to defect. Yet he wanted to marry his lover.
6: Agent BOOT
8/10
Oleg now learns English to try to get to England as a KGB spy. He gets a visa, but KGB is slow to get him there. Meanwhile he gets access to documents about British agents paid by KGB in Britain. Many are high ranking socialists and Labour Party leaders. He has 2 kids with his new wife. But he doesn’t contact MI6 in USSR as that is very hard and they can’t make it happen.
PART II
7: The Safe House
8/10
About Aldrich Ames and then Oleg’s initial reports to the British using his new info. The number of spies and agents is actually extremely small now compared to just decades earlier. KGB is weak.
8: Operation RYAN
8/10
USSR really thinks the West will nuke them to gain power. They tell their agents to find evidence on this and then everything they find is used to confirm this crazy theory. Oleg’s info is now used to convey info to CIA to improve the Cold War situation. But CIA doesn’t know his name.
9: Koba
8/10
A spy in MI5 tries to give the USSR embassy secret files. They never respond to him. The guy who gets the initial secret documents brags about it to Oleg for no good reason. And Oleg reveals this and the spy is soon caught as he is a mental mess and is easy to find.
10: Mr. Collins and Mrs. Thatcher
8/10
Oleg is sent to USSR and now gives MI5 info about how the regime thinks the nuke attack is upcoming. A NATO military test with fake nuke attacks creates an extremely dangerous atmosphere. The new info is now nearly fully shared with CIA as clearly Regan and USA doesn’t understand how USSR is thinking. But soon the USSR leader dies and the extreme focus on the potential nuke attack subsides.
Oleg also get handed contacts by MI6 to make him write proper reports back and get promoted. They even help him write the reports. At times he reveals a bit too great knowledge about Britain secrets and it makes his coworkers ask him questions.
Many spies were kicked out of Britain before. Now MI6 kicks out leaders one at a time to give him more promotions and access to more data.
11: Russian Roulette
7,5/10
Aldrich Ames starts spying for KGB and giving them CIA secrets. CIA was mad about not knowing who the MI6 source was. So they investigated the documents and tracked them to Oleg. Hence Ames has info he can sell about him and all other agents.
Oleg is called back to USSR as there is a huge KGB investigation looking for the British spy. A bit repetitive chapter, but still very good.
PART III
12: Cat and Mouse
8/10
Interrogation. He reveals nothing. But Ames soon gives KGB his name. When you are in USSR and are seen as an enemy you are already in a prison of sorts. Agents track him. There are cameras and mics in his apartment. So they don’t hurry to imprison him.
13: The Dry Cleaner
8/10
The operation to extract Oleg from USSR is under way. It’s extremely hard to even give signals. And the only thing he had to do is be in a place with a certain bag at a certain time. That’s it. Even this is complicated as KGB spies follow them. His wife was brought to USSR to keep them all there. He tries to tell his wife his plan, but he can’t get it across. He plans to escape alone.
14: The Runner
8/10
Escape from USSR. KGB cars follow the diplomat cars where Oleg is supposed to hide in the trunk. Oleg on the other hand runs away from the agents tracking him and takes a train ride to the border alone.
15: Finlandia
7/10
Escape and epilogue. The author tries to play it up too much. It’s fairly direct and simple stuff. You could likely even have disguised him as another person and then hid the other person in some bushes. That would be easier. The guards at the border wouldn’t check for wigs or specific accents and knowledge about certain personal things. The other person could then just travel back to Moscow and act like nothing happened. Weirdly enough such plans are not mentioned.
My final opinion on the book
Very good! This audiobook was great. Addictive, fun, well-written. It’s written in such an accessible way that any topic would sound interesting this way. Here you have secret agents, double-spies, missions, spy tools, embassies, marriages. It’s also set in Denmark, London, and USSR. I have lived in 2 of these countries. Just the fact that it’s partly set in Denmark made me really hype about it. It was such a positive surprise.
The story is cool and short. Nothing much to dislike here and I will FOR SURE read his other spy books. Like… come on, this is written for men like me. I wanted to read a positive book first instead of diving into the Western traitor stuff with people giving names to KGB and getting men killed. Here no one was killed because of Oleg. Actually, he helped all the countries communicate more clearly and removed many evil KGB spies from England who are trained to kidnap and kill.
The story does become basic at times. While it’s always advancing it’s still 1 man doing single things. So it’s an important man, but it at times feels a bit small. The author then tries to spice up the story by adding dramatic narration to smaller spy events. Unfortunately it often doesn’t work. He becomes very repetitive at some points trying to reexplain the danger the 5th time over. And many points are mentioned 7 times over in the book. Instead of diving deeper into KGB history he repeats the same 10 points again and again to fill out the space. You definitely could easily cut 20 pages from the book. It’s not always unwelcomed when stuff is repeated. But I feel like these repetitive 20-30 pages could have had a ton of cool KGB info that the book lacks. The stuff he explains is interesting, but other stories could expand the story.
Overall a small history note. It’s not some great analysis or big history. But it's curious and interesting history no matter how small. And it’s very accessible. There is no reason not to read it unless you are only interested in huge history points.
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