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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.
The Spy and the Traitor (2018) by Ben Macintyre is a non-fiction thriller that recounts the life of Oleg Gordievsky, a high-ranking KGB officer who became one of the most valuable double agents for British intelligence (MI6) during the Cold War. The title refers to the two central figures: the “Spy” (Gordievsky) and the “Traitor” (Aldrich Ames, the CIA officer who betrayed him).
Part 1: The Making of a Double Agent
- Early Disillusionment: Born into a “KGB family,” Gordievsky was groomed for Soviet intelligence. However, he began to sour on Communism after witnessing the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and the brutal 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
- Recruitment in Copenhagen: While stationed in Denmark in the early 1970s, Gordievsky’s love for Western music, literature, and freedom led him to a “mating dance” with British intelligence. He was eventually recruited by MI6 officer Richard Bromhead under the codename SUNBEAM (later NOCTON).
- The Ideological Spy: Unlike many spies who worked for money, Gordievsky refused payment. He believed he was helping to save the world from a morally bankrupt regime.
Part 2: The Golden Age of Espionage
- London Station: Gordievsky was eventually posted to the Soviet embassy in London, where he rose to become the “rezident” (station chief). This gave him access to the Kremlin’s deepest secrets.
- Saving the World (1983): During the 1983 NATO exercise Able Archer, Soviet leadership became convinced the U.S. was preparing a preemptive nuclear strike. Gordievsky alerted the West to this genuine paranoia, allowing Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan to dial down their rhetoric and avoid an accidental nuclear war.
- Briefing Both Sides: In a bizarre historical quirk, Gordievsky essentially wrote the briefing notes for both Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev before their first meeting, helping to foster the relationship that would eventually end the Cold War.
Part 3: The Betrayal and The Traitor
- Aldrich Ames: While Gordievsky was leaking secrets to the West, CIA officer Aldrich Ames was selling secrets to the KGB for money. Desperate to find the source of MI6’s high-level intelligence, the CIA (not knowing about Gordievsky) assigned Ames to investigate.
- The Exposure: In 1985, Ames handed over a list of Soviet agents working for the West. Gordievsky was at the top of that list.
Part 4: Operation PIMLICO (The Escape)
- The Trap: Gordievsky was suddenly recalled to Moscow for “consultations.” Upon arrival, he realized his apartment had been bugged and his superiors were suspicious. He was drugged with a “truth serum” during a interrogation but managed to maintain his cover through sheer willpower.
- The Signal: Realizing he was about to be arrested and executed, he activated Operation PIMLICO—a long-standing emergency escape plan. He stood on a specific Moscow street corner at a specific time holding a Safeway shopping bag, the signal for MI6 to extract him.
- The Extraction: In a nail-biting sequence, British diplomats smuggled Gordievsky into the trunk of a car. They drove toward the Finnish border, nearly getting caught when Soviet sniffer dogs approached the vehicle. The dogs were famously distracted by a British diplomat’s wife, who used a dirty baby nappy and a packet of cheese-and-onion crisps to throw them off the scent.
Key Themes
- Ideology vs. Greed: Macintyre contrasts Gordievsky’s principled betrayal of the USSR with Aldrich Ames’s selfish betrayal of the U.S.
- The Human Cost: Gordievsky was forced to leave his wife and children behind, a sacrifice that haunted him for years.
- Nuclear Paranoia: The book highlights how close the world came to nuclear destruction due to simple misunderstandings between world leaders.
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre: 11 Minute Summary This summary provides a concise overview of Gordievsky’s career and the high-stakes Operation PIMLICO.
A Cold War Spy’s Loyalty - Interview with Ben Macintyre In this video, author Ben Macintyre discusses the psychological complexities of Gordievsky and the incredible details of his escape from Moscow.