The Spy and the Traitor

The No.1 Sunday Times BestsellerA BBC Between the Covers book club pickShortlisted for the 2018 Baillie Gifford Prize''THE BEST TRUE SPY STORY I HAVE EVER READ'' JOHN LE CARRE An exciting Cold War story about a KGB double agent, by one of Britain''s greatest historians and the ultimate gift for anyone who loves a good spy thriller!On a warm July evening in 1985, a middle-aged man stood on the pavement of a busy avenue in the heart of Moscow, holding a plastic carrier bag. In his grey suit and tie, he looked like any other Soviet citizen. The bag alone was mildly conspicuous, printed with the red logo of Safeway, the British supermarket.The man was a spy. A senior KGB officer, for more than a decade he had supplied his British spymasters with a stream of priceless secrets from deep within the Soviet intelligence machine. No spy had done more to damage the KGB. The Safeway bag was a signal: to activate his escape plan to be smuggled out of Soviet Russia. So began one of the boldest and most extraordinary episodes in the history of spying. Ben Macintyre reveals a tale of espionage, betrayal and raw courage that changed the course of the Cold War forever...BEN MACINTYRE''S NEXT BOOK AGENT SONYA IS AVAILABLE TO BUY NOW>

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Ben Macintyre

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Ben Macintyre is the multimillion-copy bestselling author of books including Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat and A Spy Among Friends. He is a columnist and Associate Editor at The Times, and has worked as the newspaper's correspondent in New York, Paris and Washington. He regularly presents BBC series based on his acclaimed books.

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THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

An exciting Cold War story about a KGB double agent, by one of Britain's greatest historians and the ultimate gift for anyone who loves a good spy thriller!

'The best true spy story I have ever read' John le Carré

On a warm July evening in 1985, a middle-aged man stood on the pavement of a busy avenue in the heart of Moscow, holding a plastic carrier bag. In his grey suit and tie, he looked like any other Soviet citizen. The bag alone was mildly conspicuous, printed with the red logo of Safeway, the British supermarket.

The man was a spy. A senior KGB officer, for more than a decade he had supplied his British spymasters with a stream of priceless secrets from deep within the Soviet intelligence machine. No spy had done more to damage the KGB. The Safeway bag was a signal: to activate his escape plan to be smuggled out of Soviet Russia. So began one of the boldest and most extraordinary episodes in the history of spying.

Ben Macintyre reveals a tale of espionage, betrayal and raw courage that changed the course of the Cold War forever . . .

'The world's most important spy since the Second World War. Mercilessly gripping' Sunday Times

'Extraordinary. His best book yet' John Preston, Evening Standard

'A remarkable story of one man's courage' The Times, Book of the Week

Ben Macintyre, Sunday Times bestseller, August 2023