Reading the 20th Century discussion

Welcome to our group read discussion of....



The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War (2018) by Ben Macintyre

It sounds like a quintessential Cold War story

Our very own Susan lavished it with five stars


The reviews are through the roof....

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

Macintyre does true-life espionage better than anyone else. He has a remarkable ability to construct a narrative that is as taut and urgent as it is carefully nuanced. Here the pace never slackens and the focus never drifts, while Macintyre's insight into his subject's tangle of contradictions never loses its sharpness. It's a tough call, but The Spy and the Traitor may well be his best book yet. -- John Preston ― Evening Standard

A real-life thriller, as tense as John le Carré's novels, or even Ian Fleming's ― Economist

A dazzling non-fiction thriller and an intimate portrait of high-stakes espionage -- Luke Harding ― Guardian

[A] captivating espionage tale. In a feat of real authorial dexterity, Macintyre accurately portrays the long-game banality of spycraft-the lead time and persistence in planning-with such clarity and propulsive verve that the book often feels like a thriller. Macintyre has produceda timely and insightful page-turner. ― Publishers Weekly

It has become a cliché to say that real-life spy stories read like John le Carré, but Gordievsky's personal history makes the comparison irresistible... Macintyre tells the story brilliantly. His book's final third is superbly done -- Dominic Sandbrook, Book of the Week ― Sunday Times

The fact that parts of The Spy and the Traitor read like a pacey thriller is a bonus, but it is based on serious research, including interviews with Gordievsky and anonymous British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) officers... This is a remarkable story of one man's courage, and of the skill of our much traduced security services. Ben Macintyre tells it very well indeed ― The Times, Book of the Week

You can always rely on this author to tease out fascinating details on the second oldest profession ― Sunday Express

Writing about cases of British espionage success that the public knows little about, he says - 'It takes an investigator of consummate talent and a narrator of equal skill to unearth one of these triumphs and explain it clearly. Ben Macintyre, who is both, has done exactly that. -- Frederick Forsyth ― Literary Review

Macintyre's account brings it to life in vivid technicolor with fascinating new details. He tells it with all the verve we have come to expect from such an accomplished writer ― Spectator

[An] exceptionally rewarding book ― Observer

He writes like a novelist, introducing richly drawn characters whose lives intersect with Gordievsky's. One of the last chapters is as tense as any thriller. No wonder Le Carré liked it ― Daily Express

Thrilling... A real heart-in-the-mouth book ― New Statesman

Reads like a thriller. . . truly nerve-jangling ― The Times Books of the Year

One of the most exciting things I have ever read -- George Osborne ― Evening Standard, Books of the Year

An impeccably researched, compelling read ― Independent


More information...

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 for MI6. 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.

looking forward to this one!

Barbara wrote: "looking forward to this one!"


Me too

I've made a start on this one. I know, I know, it's only May, however there is method in my madness. I have seriously overcommitted in June, July and August.

Anyway, so far, at around 12% it's the usual Ben M levels of excellence. He really is wonderful at bringing this type of material alive. He must also do extraordinary levels of research.

Really enjoying this


Roll on July 🙌🏻

Into book three now. Insanely tense 😬

I finished this last night having raced through the final section. Review coming soon

Nigeyb wrote:


"I finished this last night having raced through the final section. Review coming soon"


And here it is...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

4/5


Really great

Can't wait for this discussion to begin

Great review, Nigeyb. I will start a re-listen this week, although I am very busy tomorrow, so won't have much time.

I started this today and although only a couple of chapters in, it has certainly been informative.

Good to hear, Jill.

I am now on the finale of the book, which is the escape. I love the way that Thatcher was at Balmoral when permission was needed and the Queen's snooty private secretary didn't want to allow permission for him to see the PM.

That ending is edge-of-the-seat stuff


And yes, that snooty secretary was a great detail, in a book chock full of great details

I'll start this in the next few days. Looking at the comments so far, it looks like it will be an interesting one.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did Carolien

My library branch has it and I’m going this morning to get it! I almost bought it at B&N yesterday, not realizing it was a group read. I’m struggling to find something interesting right now. Non-fiction usually works for me.

I've got many group reads planned in July, so I started this one a bit early. The Intro & Ch1 pulled me in right away. And I was instantly reminded of Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall when the GDR was a Soviet satellite & there was the same sort of oppression caused by neighbors spying upon neighbors.

This is my first book by Ben Macintyre. It will be interesting to compare his account with the espionage fiction I've read.

That's good to read Woman Reading


I also enjoyed Stasiland

Please do muse further on BM versus your experiences with espionage fiction


How are you getting on with it Pam?

I loved this one. I haven't read anything by Ben Macintyre that I haven't loved. Is anyone planning to get his new one in September? Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle

First I've heard of it but I'm always up for jumping aboard the BM Express


Thanks

Looks great. I think he'll have so much fun with the cast of characters involved.

The Colditz book looks fascinating - I don't know anything about it.

If I do get to this one, it'll be later in July - lots of group reads and some ARCs that I need to get to first.

BM described a level of detail about the KGB organization that I had not seen in John le Carré novels, the nonfiction Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall or in the nonfiction Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West.

So far through Ch 1 (& later added, the rest of Part 1) --

The KGB's headquarters is in Moscow and encases Lubyanka, where the torture cells are located.

▪︎ First Chief Directorate (FCD) - foreign intelligence
--> Directorate S (for "special") - manages illegal spies
----> Line N - for nelegalniy (or illegals)
--> 3rd Department -- both OAG & wife Yelena (translation of
intercepted foreign diplomats' conversation)
--> 12th Department - bug foreign diplomats (maybe in
Directorate K?)
▪︎ Directorate K - counterintelligence such as bugging / recording subjects
--> 5th Department - internal investigation
▪︎ 7th Directorate - surveillance
▪︎ 13th Directorate of "Special Tasks" - sabotage & assassinations

▪︎ "Red Banner" elite training academy - aka "School 101"


It does make me wonder what are the functions of Directorates #1-6 & #8-12.


Le Carré did call the KGB the "Center" which is also BM's reference.
And Robert Dugoni's Charles Jenkins trilogy (which were published starting in 2019) mentioned the torture at Lubyanka but not much more despite characters being highly placed within the KGB.

I can't say that I particularly liked Oleg, but at times Macintyre did make me feel a sympathy with him. Life in Russia must have been pretty grim, even for the more privileged. There was a feeling throughout the book that Oleg could be revealed as a spy at any time. And the escape bid at the end of the book was certainly a very fraught time.
I will look out for the Colditz one, as that is two so far from this author that this group has encouraged me to read, and I have enjoyed

Ch 2

Ha! When Oleg Antonyevich Gordievsky ("OAG") took up badminton and especially relished its deceptive element, I immediately thought of Nat in John le Carré's Agent Running in the Field. Perhaps Le Carré had been inspired, as he had published his novel one year after BM's book.

I'm really enjoying learning the global backdrop such as the uprisings in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

You're a very perceptive reader WR, with great memory too. I'm thoroughly enjoying your astute and knowledgeable observations. Thank you.

Nigeyb wrote: "You're a very perceptive reader WR, with great memory too. I'm thoroughly enjoying your astute and knowledgeable observations. Thanks you."

Aah, thanks, Nigeyb.
I do wish that my memory is stronger though. I'd worry that if I had to, I would bungle all those tradecraft signals during a bout of stress. Wasn't that funny that a cap from a ginger beer bottle instead of a beer bottle led to so much consultation with the higher-ups?

I'm struggling a little with this one. The early biographical detail isn't grabbing me at all, but I'll push on and see how it goes.

Hang on in there Sid. I feel confident you'll warm to it.


WR, you put my memory to shame. I would make a poor spy.

I think I used to have a memory, but I can't really remember when. 😊

Sid wrote: "I think I used to have a memory, but I can't really remember when. 😊"

😀😇😀

Nigeyb wrote: " I would make a poor spy."


Actually, Nigeyb, it's a good thing that we'd both be bad spies. Ch 4 had a stinging description of why people become spies.

So far, I'm really enjoying BM's style -- the factual is combined with psychological / ideological insights. Being human can be complicated especially when your leaders create such a repressive environment and engender pervasive fear in the entire populace.

These early glimpses of countries caught within the Soviet orbit provide context for how they're responding to the European geopolitical conflicts today.

Sid wrote: "I'm struggling a little with this one. The early biographical detail isn't grabbing me at all, but I'll push on and see how it goes."

I'm with you Sid. I'm sure the pace will start building soon but, due to its incredibly high 4.50 GR rating, I had higher expectations of its ability to enthrall me. I am on page 142 and am not yet captivated by it. I am interested in the subject matter being presented, but it's just not that compellingly presented.
I have learned to just be patient and treat it like some of the denser non-fiction that I enjoy by reading it in smaller daily amounts. I expect it will get more compelling as matters build and, if not, I will at least have learned more information on an interesting and important subject in understanding modern global relations. In other words, it will be a worthwhile read and that's enough for me.

Brian wrote: "I'm with you Sid. I'm sure the pace will start building soon but, due to its incredibly high 4.50 GR rating, I had higher expectations of its ability to enthrall me. I am on page 142 and am not yet captivated by it. I am interested in the subject matter being presented, but it's just not that compellingly presented.
I have learned to just be patient and treat it like some of the denser non-fiction that I enjoy by reading it in smaller daily amounts. I expect it will get more compelling as matters build and, if not, I will at least have learned more information on an interesting and important subject in understanding modern global relations. In other words, it will be a worthwhile read and that's enough for me. "

Yes, well put, Brian. I'm sticking with it for similar reasons. For now at least.

The first part is mainly scene setting as I recall. That said, I also recall quite a bit of interesting information about people and places during Gordievsky's personal history. I hope it picks up for you both soon.

I’ve just barely started it but I think I will like it! I’m almost done w a book about the Van Gogh Brothers and once I finish it, will get back to this one! I’m trying to finish one book at a time this year rather than reading 3 and struggling to finish anything. I seem to be in a non-fiction mood right now so it’s a good time to pick it up.

Great news Pam 🤠

I’ve just started Part Two and I’m loving it! I find espionage really fascinating (maybe because I would also be a terrible spy) and always enjoy the details of tradecraft.

Like WR, I’m also enjoying the analysis of the human psychological side of spying (which I would also be rubbish at as I tend to take things at face value,)

Yes, you and me both Pamela. I dont know how their nerves stand it given the stakes are so high.

Yes, now we're into the actual business of espionage I'm enjoying it much more.

It definitely is a book of two halves. I enjoyed both, but the second part is gripping.

I've finished Part 1.

Veronica Price made me initially think of Le Carré's Connie in the Smiley series, but they have very different personalities and jobs. It was a bit slower, but BM's methodical recounting of how the exfiltration plan just highlighted its difficulties.

Robert Dugoni's spy trilogy also had escape plans from today's Russia (which now has facial recognition software). They were a bit on the outlandish side but one has to suspend disbelief with espionage fiction.

From Mick Herron's Jackson Lamb, we know that a good joe is "always on" - always putting on a false face from reality. OAG certainly embodied that requirement as he betrayed or deceived country, KGB, mentor, and wives. His multilingual ability revealed his mental dexterity.

I wasn't sure I was going to read this, but now I'm 34 pages in and, despite a few misgivings about the sweeping language (growing up in America I was also taught that the American system was superior to all others), I'm hooked. Perfect counterpoint to Le Carré.

Pamela wrote: "Like WR, I’m also enjoying the analysis of the human psychological side of spying (which I would also be rubbish at as I tend to take things at face value,)"

I have to say that legal training is similar. One learns never to take anything at face value, especially what your client tells you! Believing your client's story is a classic newbie error.

Glad you're enjoying it too Ben

Part 2 ratcheted up the tension, and I'm keen to begin Part 3, but first ...

Chapters 8 & 10 regarding how close the USSR was to using nuclear weapons against the USA in the 1980s was startling & frightening. On a lighter note, it reminded me of the group Genesis' 1980s music video "Land of Confusion" which featured puppets, including POTUS Reagan accidentally setting off a nuclear rocket. This was a bit of pop culture well worth watching.


While it wouldn't be hard for any author to envision sibling rivalries within government agencies, John le Carré's parody - The Looking Glass War - sprang to mind as BM described the relationship between MI6 and MI5 and also Thomas Bettaney's unsuccessful efforts with General Guk. But I also thought of Mick Herron's Nobody Walks -- which featured Bettany who had also worked against N. Ireland during the Troubles. Bettaney certainly received enough newspaper coverage to influence Herron.


Ch 11 -- despite BM's careful research (judging by his bibliography), there were more instances in which he had to speculate.

And I had jumped the gun by googgling A. Ames while reading Part 2; but I had refrained from reading anything beyond brief blurbs.

Great stuff WR


Chapters 8 and 10 are particularly chilling

The Michael Foot stuff was news to me too - well the extent to which he was potentially in hock to the Soviets

Nigeyb wrote: “The Michael Foot stuff was news to me too - well the extent to which he was potentially in hock to the Soviets"

Me too, although I do remember reading something else about this many years later. I was impressed that the service decided to keep this quiet so that it couldn’t be used for political purposes and influence a general election though.

The 80s stuff was fascinating as I can remember all the events, but saw them from a totally different perspective at the time.

Pamela wrote: "Nigeyb wrote: “The Michael Foot stuff was news to me too - well the extent to which he was potentially in hock to the Soviets""

Has anybody read Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America by Christopher Wylie? He revealed how the internet and its analysis of user data were used to interfere / influence Trump's presidential campaign in his favor. If the internet had been around earlier, then Britain could have ended up with PM Foot, an agent of the KGB. What a thought for OAG to report back to a KGB-supported politician!

I rearranged my schedule yesterday just so that I could finish the book. The pull to keep reading had steadily increased with each chapter & the pull was impossible to resist by Part 3. My thoughts are still percolating.

In general, what do others think of BM's tone? Overall, he struck me as being pretty objective.

I had read another espionage nonfiction - A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell - last year. Purnell's treatment was pretty favorably slanted toward her subject so it was more storytelling than reporting.