Ben Macintyre (1) (1963–)

The Spy and the Traitor tells the story of Oleg Gordievsky, whose life revolved around the KGB — his father and brother were both KGB officials, and he followed in their footsteps — and who eventually became disillusioned with life in the USSR and used his position in the KGB to pass along intelligence to the British. It is the story of his recruitment, spy work and eventual betrayal, leading to a nail-biting exfiltration operation.

This was a riveting book. It was consistently compelling show more and suspenseful; I couldn’t put the book down, especially when it appeared that Gordievsky was coming under suspicion and he might need to launch his escape plan. Macintyre’s writing, as always, is precise and meticulous with flourishes of humour at just the right times. The book contains two sets of photos that are well chosen. It may also inspire further reading: for me, I’ve requested Ashenden, by William Somerset Maugham, which is mentioned in this book.

I highly recommend this book if you’re interested in the Cold War. show less

Digging deep into the SAS Regimental Archives, Ben Macintyre has produced a history of the SAS proceeding from the formation through the regiment’s activities during WWII. Macintyre has the ability to render a specific period in time extremely compelling and readable. He has done that here. Macintyre coaxes the personalities from various regiment members, some long dead, which brings the book alive.

The SAS was the creation of David Stirling, a Scot described by Winston Churchill’s son, show more who was under Stirling’s command, as “one of the few people who think of the war in three-dimensional terms.” Stirling and Jock Lewes, who was later killed in action, developed a fighting force that broke the mold of traditional combat to that point, sneaking deep behind enemy lines and creating havoc through hit-and-run raids and bombings. They harassed German forces in the African desert, creeping onto airstrips and blowing up planes, and disrupting supply lines. “The SAS was pioneering a new sort of war, so asymmetrical as to be almost lopsided.” “This was war on the hoof, invented ad hoc, unpredictable, highly effective and often chaotic.” Macintyre tells the story with verve. show less

Seventy years ago, the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy and began the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe. Many circumstances contributed to the success of the D-Day invasion, but one of the most important factors was the campaign of disinformation being fed to the Germans by a network of double agents whose sole purpose was to convince the Abwehr that the Allies would be landing at Calais rather than Normandy. Had these agents failed, the Germans would have concentrated their show more forces at Normandy, most likely stopping the Allied invasion in its tracks. This book tells the stories of the individual double agents involved in this task, including Serbian playboy Dusko Popov ("Tricycle"), Peruvian socialite Elvira Chaudoir ("Bronx"), and Polish nationalist Roman Czerniawski ("Valentine"). Ultimately, Macintyre makes a convincing case for the proposition that the Allies would never have won the war on the battlefields had they not already won the intelligence war.

This book gives a wealth of fascinating detail about the six men and women who acted as double agents in Britain, allegedly spying for Germany but really working for the Allies. I was shocked to learn that British intelligence had actually discovered and turned every German agent in Britain at the time! Because of this, the Allies were able to present a unified message to the Germans, subtlely directing their attention away from Normandy and toward other possible invasion sites. Some of the specific stories in the book prove once again that truth is stranger than fiction: for example, Dusko Popov thrived on creating networks of sub-agents that were entirely fictional, yet he retained the Abwehr's complete trust. I also loved the fact that these double agents were handled in Britain by the Twenty Committee, so named because the Roman numeral for 20 is XX, or "double cross." In short, if you're interested in true stories of WWII-era espionage, Ben Macintyre is your man! show less

Absolutely one of the best biographies I've ever read, and about one of the most fascinating and mysterious individuals of the past 150 years. It still is really hard for me to believe it was always ideology, willfully ignoring the reality of Stalin's Soviet Union, but there you have it. I can't imagine how disillusioned he must have felt upon arriving in Moscow knowing he would be there the rest of his life... Additionally, it's almost incomprehensible to consider the massive damage done to show more the CIA, the USA and its Russian efforts over a period of decades simply due to his friendship with one man... show less