The Spy and the Traitor
The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War
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The Spy and the Traitor
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Narrated by:
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John Lee
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Written by:
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Ben Macintyre
About this listen
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The celebrated author of Double Cross and Rogue Heroes returns with a 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's latest may be his best yet. Like the greatest novels of John le Carré, it 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.
What the critics say
“The best true spy story I have ever read.” (John Le Carré)
What listeners say about The Spy and the Traitor
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2023-05-22
Starts slow but keep listening!
Starts slow but keep listening ! Definitely worth your time and effort and should be required listening if you have any interest in the Cold War.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alex Sims
- 2020-07-31
First rate spy story
Loved it. Well written, engaging, exciting.
I was captivated for the last third. Very good book.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2020-11-14
Annoying narration
The cadence of the narrator’s voice was annoying. Many many many times his dropped pitch at the end of phrases became monotonous.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tony Johnson
- 2022-02-12
Honest spy thriller; no 007/Bourne flashiness
Great Cold War Slow burn that keeps you listening.
This book reflects the chill and politics of the 70s and 80s. Dramatic with No over the the top flair. Just a good honest historical recap of how cold warriors impacted history, navigating the ins and outs of their own corrupt organizations. Both sides had double, even triple crosses— it gets entertainingly confusing- not really; I wish we had more Cold War narratives like this.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- sd
- 2019-08-09
Captivating
Hard to put this exciting book down. Ben Macintyre is definately my new favourite writer.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Diane
- 2020-06-27
Reality - Ripped from Hollywood
The story is so amazing, so full of intrigue, risk, love won and love lost that you may think it fiction. It is not. Great story and time well spent reliving the Cold War years through the lens of that periods greatest spy story.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- TMagee
- 2024-06-21
Incredible story
There was nothing to dislike about this story. Pace was great and the detail was terrific.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- W. Ciszak
- 2019-08-09
A non-fiction thriller
Fascinating and gripping story well written and well read. Better than most fictional spy novels.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 2020-12-11
Absolutely Epic!
Better than fiction! It's an epic story with an awesome narrator. If you've found yourself browsing this genre, you're going to want to give this I listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Btja
- 2024-05-09
One of the best true spy stories I've ever read
The story is absolutely fascinating. Much easier to follow than many true spy stories where the dizzying amount of new characters makes it hard to follow. So well written and a historical masterpiece. The reader has a great voice as well, making it a pleasant listen. I couldn't stop, had to listen for hours at a time because of how captivating the story is.
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