--- product_id: 157989992 title: "The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War" price: "297 kr" currency: NOK in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.no/products/157989992-the-spy-and-the-traitor-the-greatest-espionage-story-cold store_origin: NO region: Norway --- # The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War **Price:** 297 kr **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War - **How much does it cost?** 297 kr with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.no](https://www.desertcart.no/products/157989992-the-spy-and-the-traitor-the-greatest-espionage-story-cold) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description 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. Review: Splendid history & a gripping read - The Spy and The Traitor is touted in its subhead as "the greatest espionage story ever told." That isn't just publisher hype. The real events and the story of Oleg Gordievsky, KGB officer and diplomat reads like something from a John LeCarre or Robert Ludlum story...except it's true and marvelously documented. Raised by a father and older brother who both served devotedly and unquestioningly in the KGB (dad worked through Stalin's purges and survived in the KGB's precursor agency). Loyalty to the service then would seem to be a given--betraying the agency and its million members (you read that right) would be like sabotaging the family's business. Yet events and history continue to flummox human expectations. First the invasion of Hungary, then the erection of the Berlin Wall (which Gordievsky was present to see) and finally the brutal crushing of the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia all drove this KGB officer further and further away from the party. Exposure to the West in Copenhagen and later in London provided a first hand taste of liberty and freedom. It served as the final push into the eager and eternally grateful arms of his M16 handlers. The double agent provided them with not merely a trove of concrete information but invaluable insight into the workings of the KGB and planning of the Soviet Leadership. It is no exaggeration to say Gordievsky was our Kim Philby. The details of these meetings, contacts, "drops", etc. and how spies operated from the end WWII until the dissolution of the Soviet empire is fascinating and novelistic in the telling. Gordievsky's escape or "exfiltration" from the USSR by M16 is nothing short of breathtaking--a Bourne Identity moment. Best of all though is the historical and moral context that gives readers a perspective of events' meanings. Ben McIntyre is a masterful storyteller and detailed chronicler. He thoroughly but concisely points out the import and value of Grodievsky's insights--particularly warning the Brits and thereby the Americans that the Soviet leader Yuri Andropov genuinely believed the West was intent upon a first nuclear strike. Appreciating that paranoia can be as perilous as animus, first Thatcher and then Reagan worked to assuage Soviet fears. It was Gordievsky who prepped both sides for successful summits in the 80s and it was he who counseled wisely to neither disband nor include the USSR in the SDI or Star Wars initiative. Rather, ratchet up the pressure and they would go bankrupt trying to keep up, which is precisely what happened. Gordievsky certainly didn't single handedly end the cold war--there were dozens of events and officials who played a significant role. But Oleg Gordievsky was surely in the first rank of those who made a valuable contribution earning the appreciation of Reagan, Thatcher, the CIA, M16 and yes, QEII (the monarch, not the ocean liner). Best of all, McIntryre doesn't put a patriotic gloss on his subject's behavior. What Gordievsky did was of enormous benefit to democracy and the West but it destroyed his marriage, implicated his wife and children as well as family and friends who all paid some price for his defection. In short, his actions both saved and ruined lives and the choices he made can be rightfully regarded as both morally defensible and appalling or enraging to those who knew him. Unsurprisingly, his marriage failed and most Russian friends regard him with disdain and disgust. In the western intelligence community he is a hero. This is terrific, important history and a wonderfully well-told tale. Enjoy! Review: Amazing story of Oleg Gordievsky - I was somehow referred to this book on desertcart while looking into Aldrich Ames literature. Am certainly glad i was, The Spy and the Traitor is the story of Oleg Gordievsky and his career in the KGB and his defection. His story I guess is relatively untold compared to the infamous Aldrich Ames but his importance was extremely high. Ben Macintyre tells the exciting story of Oleg and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat throughout the book. Without the reader knowing what happened the book reads like a true spy novel, yet is entirely based on fact. Oleg Gordievsky was a family KGB man, his father and brother were both in the KGB and he too followed the family tradition despite a streak of ideological doubt. He married into the KGB literally with his wife as a fellow operative and the loveless life created the conditions for his dissatisfaction to boil into anti-establishment when he went on his foreign assignment to Denmark. Oleg realized while he was abroad the richness of other cultures and vibrancy of environment and began to deeply question the model of Soviet rule after exposure to life in a foreign country. He eventually managed to get posted in the UK through his creation of a strong relationships with his English counterparts and there started one of the most fruitful spy relationships of the Cold War. Oleg became the UK government's eye into the inner workings of the KGB and Soviet apparatchik and gave natural insight when others would have been at a loss of interpretation. The book is very personal and describes Oleg's marriage, divorce and remarriage. It takes the reader through the conditions that formed his core beliefs as well as the environment that led to his extreme and critical introversion about the double life he was living. The book is exciting to read, when it becomes clear to the KGB that they have a mole, the escape plan of Oleg is put into place and the reader is taken on a remarkable journey. I don't want to get into the details as the book must be read to get the appropriate immersion but its truly the substance of a must make movie. The book was hard to put down and the last third was impossible. After reading the book i immediately went to Wikipedia to look into all of the details and it was astounding that i knew as little as I did about this character. Definitely worth reading as it is illuminating as to the workings of the KGB, historically significant in the context of the Cold War and as exciting as a spy novel could be, amazing. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #2,708 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #2 in Espionage True Accounts #2 in Political Intelligence #3 in Intelligence & Espionage History | | Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 37,229 Reviews | ## Images ![The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91M1DeFuZXL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Language, Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Splendid history & a gripping read *by L***N on October 14, 2018* The Spy and The Traitor is touted in its subhead as "the greatest espionage story ever told." That isn't just publisher hype. The real events and the story of Oleg Gordievsky, KGB officer and diplomat reads like something from a John LeCarre or Robert Ludlum story...except it's true and marvelously documented. Raised by a father and older brother who both served devotedly and unquestioningly in the KGB (dad worked through Stalin's purges and survived in the KGB's precursor agency). Loyalty to the service then would seem to be a given--betraying the agency and its million members (you read that right) would be like sabotaging the family's business. Yet events and history continue to flummox human expectations. First the invasion of Hungary, then the erection of the Berlin Wall (which Gordievsky was present to see) and finally the brutal crushing of the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia all drove this KGB officer further and further away from the party. Exposure to the West in Copenhagen and later in London provided a first hand taste of liberty and freedom. It served as the final push into the eager and eternally grateful arms of his M16 handlers. The double agent provided them with not merely a trove of concrete information but invaluable insight into the workings of the KGB and planning of the Soviet Leadership. It is no exaggeration to say Gordievsky was our Kim Philby. The details of these meetings, contacts, "drops", etc. and how spies operated from the end WWII until the dissolution of the Soviet empire is fascinating and novelistic in the telling. Gordievsky's escape or "exfiltration" from the USSR by M16 is nothing short of breathtaking--a Bourne Identity moment. Best of all though is the historical and moral context that gives readers a perspective of events' meanings. Ben McIntyre is a masterful storyteller and detailed chronicler. He thoroughly but concisely points out the import and value of Grodievsky's insights--particularly warning the Brits and thereby the Americans that the Soviet leader Yuri Andropov genuinely believed the West was intent upon a first nuclear strike. Appreciating that paranoia can be as perilous as animus, first Thatcher and then Reagan worked to assuage Soviet fears. It was Gordievsky who prepped both sides for successful summits in the 80s and it was he who counseled wisely to neither disband nor include the USSR in the SDI or Star Wars initiative. Rather, ratchet up the pressure and they would go bankrupt trying to keep up, which is precisely what happened. Gordievsky certainly didn't single handedly end the cold war--there were dozens of events and officials who played a significant role. But Oleg Gordievsky was surely in the first rank of those who made a valuable contribution earning the appreciation of Reagan, Thatcher, the CIA, M16 and yes, QEII (the monarch, not the ocean liner). Best of all, McIntryre doesn't put a patriotic gloss on his subject's behavior. What Gordievsky did was of enormous benefit to democracy and the West but it destroyed his marriage, implicated his wife and children as well as family and friends who all paid some price for his defection. In short, his actions both saved and ruined lives and the choices he made can be rightfully regarded as both morally defensible and appalling or enraging to those who knew him. Unsurprisingly, his marriage failed and most Russian friends regard him with disdain and disgust. In the western intelligence community he is a hero. This is terrific, important history and a wonderfully well-told tale. Enjoy! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazing story of Oleg Gordievsky *by A***N on September 30, 2019* I was somehow referred to this book on Amazon while looking into Aldrich Ames literature. Am certainly glad i was, The Spy and the Traitor is the story of Oleg Gordievsky and his career in the KGB and his defection. His story I guess is relatively untold compared to the infamous Aldrich Ames but his importance was extremely high. Ben Macintyre tells the exciting story of Oleg and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat throughout the book. Without the reader knowing what happened the book reads like a true spy novel, yet is entirely based on fact. Oleg Gordievsky was a family KGB man, his father and brother were both in the KGB and he too followed the family tradition despite a streak of ideological doubt. He married into the KGB literally with his wife as a fellow operative and the loveless life created the conditions for his dissatisfaction to boil into anti-establishment when he went on his foreign assignment to Denmark. Oleg realized while he was abroad the richness of other cultures and vibrancy of environment and began to deeply question the model of Soviet rule after exposure to life in a foreign country. He eventually managed to get posted in the UK through his creation of a strong relationships with his English counterparts and there started one of the most fruitful spy relationships of the Cold War. Oleg became the UK government's eye into the inner workings of the KGB and Soviet apparatchik and gave natural insight when others would have been at a loss of interpretation. The book is very personal and describes Oleg's marriage, divorce and remarriage. It takes the reader through the conditions that formed his core beliefs as well as the environment that led to his extreme and critical introversion about the double life he was living. The book is exciting to read, when it becomes clear to the KGB that they have a mole, the escape plan of Oleg is put into place and the reader is taken on a remarkable journey. I don't want to get into the details as the book must be read to get the appropriate immersion but its truly the substance of a must make movie. The book was hard to put down and the last third was impossible. After reading the book i immediately went to Wikipedia to look into all of the details and it was astounding that i knew as little as I did about this character. Definitely worth reading as it is illuminating as to the workings of the KGB, historically significant in the context of the Cold War and as exciting as a spy novel could be, amazing. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Second time reading *by E***C on November 13, 2023* And it's even better this time. The spy story is amazing, as always with Ben Macintyre and the personal cost is nearly impossible to imagine. That's why I only used 4 stars. I wanted more on the deep personal cost here. Much like Kim Philby who was revered in the USSR, drinking and completely alone, but always a hero, I felt a lot of pain about where our great hero landed, and they seem very similar. Aldrich Ames gets uncritical "master spy" status here, when he was mostly just an amazing example of the CIA's ineptitude. There is no discussion at all about Robert Hanssen over at the USSR section of the FBI, also selling people out to the exact same Soviet spy master at the exact same time. Thankfully the Brits do a better job than my own country on this front. In any event, the more I read of this period, the more amazing that anyone made it through alive. The Soviets had a virtual library of spies in the US on whom to call, and the UK did right to not tell the US. Only CIA hubris caused the massive loss found here, not some super talented Rick Ames. (Read A Spy in Plain sight for a quick gloss on the huge number of Soviet and Russian spies in the US IC at this time. It is terrifying.) And after rereading this history, I find the idea of Ames as superior in any way more infuriating. Ames was lucky, and Oleg Gordievsky was .... not lucky, that the many US intelligence services apparently couldn't figure out who was an obvious problem, despite Ames basically showing the evidence in every way possible. Sorry, after reading this true story, I find the lack of humanity and pure greed of Ames especially galling. I may never get over it. However this book is a good example of how, at least in this case, the Brits did a textbook job of caring for their Joe, and how US hubris nearly killed him anyway. Read it, anything written by Ben Macintyre is always worth reading, sometimes more than once! ## Frequently Bought Together - The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War - The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II - The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.no/products/157989992-the-spy-and-the-traitor-the-greatest-espionage-story-cold](https://www.desertcart.no/products/157989992-the-spy-and-the-traitor-the-greatest-espionage-story-cold) --- *Product available on Desertcart Norway* *Store origin: NO* *Last updated: 2026-10-06*