Gordievsky was raised from birth to be a top KGB spy. Macintyre makes it clear the two men could not have been more different. You may be wondering why Macintyre applies the label “spy” to the double agent Gordievsky while applying “traitor” to the double agent Ames. The book is every bit as exciting as my favorite spy novels. Macintyre’s dramatic retelling of their stories comes not only from Western sources (including Gordievsky himself, who is now 82 and living under witness protection in the UK) but also from the Russian perspective. The book focuses on Oleg Gordievsky, the double agent who helped prevent nuclear war, and Aldrich Ames, the American turncoat who likely betrayed him. I learned about this episode from British journalist Ben Macintyre’s newest book, The Spy and the Traitor.

Without disclosing the source of the intelligence, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was able to convince Reagan to soften his tone and halt further escalation. And now we know why: A double agent embedded high in the KGB’s outpost in London got word to his British handlers that the Soviets had mistaken NATO’s war games as war preparation. The Soviets, convinced that NATO was getting ready for a surprise nuclear attack, prepared for nuclear war.īut then, without explanation, the West pulled back from the brink.

And then in November, NATO conducted a massive military simulation involving 40,000 troops. In the first half of that year, President Ronald Reagan dramatically ratcheted up rhetoric, military spending, and psychological operations against the Soviets. This year has been brutal on so many levels.

The spy the traitor