"To compensate a little for the treachery and weakness of my memory, so extreme that it has happened to me more than once to pick up again, as recent and unknown to me, books which I had read carefully a few years before . . . I have adopted the habit for some time now of adding at the end of each book . . . the time I finished reading it and the judgment I have derived of it as a whole, so that this may represent to me at least the sense and general idea I had conceived of the author in reading it." (Montaigne, Book II, Essay 10 (publ. 1580))

Saturday, October 26, 2024

The Spy and the Traitor (Ben Macintyre, 2019)

 (335 pages)

Book club selection by POC.

Story of Oleg Gordiansky, KGB agent who rose through the ranks but started working with British intelligence - this continues for years, including during London postings. Gordiansky disaffected by building of Berlin Wall, crushing of Prague Spring (1968); seems to have acted out of ideological conviction, not for money, perhaps other motivations as this is hard to sort out.  

Lots of important information revealed, some quite helpful as Thatcher and Reagan governments deal with a declining Soviet Union and then Gorbachev.

The author can make all of this quite interesting; for example, the story of the escape from Moscow is quite good (playing Finlandia for a fellow in the trunk!)  Several close calls; Aldrich Ames appears. Sneaky rendezvous tactics.

Downside - to me, this was just another spy tale; very little to be learned and I think could have been told effectively with far less detail.  Does help illuminate the stresses under which these folks operate.  

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