Ben Macintyre | The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 มี.ค. 2019
- Recorded October 18, 2018
Praised for his “elegant, jaunty, and very British high style” (New York Times), Ben Macintyre is the bestselling author of A Spy Among Friends, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat, and Double Cross, among other books. He has adapted several of these stories into popular documentaries for the BBC. Writer-at-large for The Times of London, Macintyre has twice been nominated for the Edgar Award in “Best Fact Crime.” The Spy and the Traitor tells the tale of real-life Russian double agent Oleg Gordievsky, the Soviet Union’s top man in London for more than a decade whose disgust with his nation’s communist system led him to covertly work with Britain’s MI6 to turn the tables on the KGB.
Meelya Gordon Memorial Lecture
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Ben should do all his books as audio book and he should read them as he tells all his stories the best way to enjoy them….
Love Bens way of telling great stories.
The best book I have ever read. What an author!
I've listened to the audiobook twice
Totally agree. Best book ever. I read it every year.
Its gripping
Ben MacIntyre is brilliant.
All of his books are fantastic!
Ben MacIntye has very quickly become my favourite historical author>...
I have read all of Ben's books, but this one is my favourite.
Excellent! Thanks for hosting this talk and posting it on TH-cam. I recently finished 'The Spy and the Traitor' and absolutely loved it. This talk helps me continue to savor it.
Just bought the book.
Another great talk from of the most undiscovered TH-cam channels. Thank you.
We're working to change that, thanks.
Thank you Ben Macintyre for your fabulous inquisitive mind and flare for telling a truly inspiring and thrillingly true story and above all telling the real human cost of the covert world. Above all hank you for your hard work and fabulous human insight
A great storyteller with amazing knowledge.
What a fabulous informative and gripping lecture ! Ben Macintires books "Operation Mincemeat" about the man who never was, and " Agent Zig Zag" about Eddie Chapman, the British double agent , are absolute must reads for anyone interested in espionage in WW2. This lecture has pursaded me that I must now purchase the Oleg Gordievsky work by mr Macintire, and to seek out all of his other published works. Superb lecture! Thanks for posting.
I’ve listened to the audiobook which I have enjoyed. This TH-cam has added to my understanding of the book. I have read several of Macintyre books and reading and I’ve also have the audiobooks.
Loved this story! Makes me want the book 😊
The Price of Liberty....
extremely interesting.
Incredible story and a wonderful book.
Excellent book. Reads like a fiction. Makes you on the edge of your seat. I hope there is a movie or better a British series aside from the documentary made by Smithsonian Channel which missed so many things that is in the book.
The unsung hero who ended the Cold War so to speak.
Ben Macintyre's Oleg Gordievsky tale sinks the KGB's counter story of their best super spy Richard Sorge. Ian Fleming thought Sorge "the most formidable spy in history." John Le Carré judged MacIntyre's tale "the best true spy story I ever read." I quite agree. Gordievsky trumps Sorge as Carré does Fleming. Bond-James Bond-appeals only to "useful idiots," Gordievsky, just to "thoughtful patriots." Do yourself a literary favor: Read "The Spy and the Traitor."
If you're interested in Oleg Gordievsky, this anecdote may be of interest. John le Carré described Ben Macintyre's fact based novel, The Spy and The Traitor, as "the best true spy story I have ever read". It was about Kim Philby's Russian counterpart, a KGB Colonel named Oleg Gordievsky, codename Sunbeam. In 1974 Gordievsky became a double agent working for MI6 in Copenhagen which was when Bill Fairclough aka Edward Burlington unwittingly launched his career as a secret agent for MI6. Fairclough and le Carré knew of each other: le Carré had even rejected Fairclough's suggestion in 2014 that they collaborate on a book. As le Carré said at the time, "Why should I? I've got by so far without collaboration so why bother now?" A realistic response from a famous expert in fiction in his eighties!
Gordievsky never met Fairclough, but he did know Fairclough's handler, Colonel Alan McKenzie aka Colonel Alan Pemberton. It is little wonder therefore that in Beyond Enkription, the first fact based novel in The Burlington Files espionage series, genuine double agents, disinformation and deception weave wondrously within the relentless twists and turns of evolving events. Beyond Enkription is set in 1974 in London, Nassau, Port au Prince and the Americas. Edward Burlington, a far from boring accountant, unwittingly started working for Alan McKenzie in MI6 and later worked eyes wide open for the CIA. What happens is so exhilarating and bone chilling it makes one wonder why bother reading espionage fiction when facts are so much more breathtaking.
Len Deighton and Mick Herron could be forgiven for thinking they co-wrote the raw noir anti-Bond narrative, Beyond Enkription. Atmospherically it's reminiscent of Ted Lewis' Get Carter of Michael Caine fame. If anyone ever makes a film based on Beyond Enkription they'll only have themselves to blame if it doesn't go down in history as a classic espionage thriller.
Great interview and excellent book! However, I have to say that proverka (проверка) means check-up, it does NOT mean dry-cleaning, khimchistka (химчистка) is Russian for dry cleaning. The two words are completely different in meaning and I don't see how you could mix them up
John le Carré described Ben Macintyre's fact based novel, The Spy and The Traitor, as "the best true spy story I have ever read". It was about Kim Philby's Russian counterpart, a KGB Colonel named Oleg Gordievsky, codename Sunbeam. In 1974 Gordievsky became a double agent working for MI6 in Copenhagen which was when Bill Fairclough aka Edward Burlington unwittingly launched his career as a secret agent for MI6. Fairclough and le Carré knew of each other: le Carré had even rejected Fairclough's suggestion in 2014 that they collaborate on a book. As le Carré said at the time, "Why should I? I've got by so far without collaboration so why bother now?" A realistic response from a famous master of fiction in his eighties!
Gordievsky never met Fairclough, but he did know Fairclough's handler, Colonel Alan McKenzie aka Colonel Alan Pemberton. It is little wonder therefore that in Beyond Enkription, the first fact based novel in The Burlington Files espionage series, genuine double agents, disinformation and deception weave wondrously within the relentless twists and turns of evolving events. Beyond Enkription is set in 1974 in London, Nassau, Port au Prince and the Americas. Edward Burlington, a far from boring accountant, unwittingly started working for Alan McKenzie in MI6 and later worked eyes wide open for the CIA. What happens is so exhilarating and bone chilling it makes one wonder what the point of reading espionage fiction when facts are so much more breathtaking.
Len Deighton and Mick Herron could be forgiven for thinking they co-wrote the raw noir anti-Bond narrative, Beyond Enkription. Atmospherically it's reminiscent of Ted Lewis' Get Carter of Michael Caine fame. If anyone ever makes a film based on Beyond Enkription they'll only have themselves to blame if it doesn't go down in history as a classic espionage thriller.
I have just read the book, a fantastic history.
I sincerely hope his next one will be about the fourteen hooded men in the north of Ireland.
Tortured by the british state in 1971.
Operation Demetrius, Shackleton barracks.
All the five techniques were used.
Comments?
He was allowed to write the book because of his perspective and orientation, although he can state it’s not binary. In 1971 the five techniques or variations were probably commonly used. Variations of the five techniques are probably still used by many countries. Some consider context and the big picture before passing judgment.
what a great talk. Imagine all the propaganda Oleg had to listen to while hating it in his guts.
Here's a little limerick that went the rounds about Philby after he defected: ' So tell us Mr. Philby, are there many more like you? Why yes indeed there are Sir... and more than one or two.'
Very enjoyable book
Oleg was incredibly brave to go back to Russia and incredibly lucky to make it out alive , although it destroyed his future family life. one very foolish thing he did was to go (Hitchhike) into Viborg and buy some chicken and two beers, it seems he then went to sleep in the warmth of the cafe and had he not been able to hitch a ride back to hiding place in a passing truck (he was about 16 km away and had only an hr and twenty to make it) , the pick up would not have happened and he would have been shot. Given he generally stayed off the turps, this was quite a mistake. McIntyre also makes an error with respect to his book - Oleg finished the English course in two years, not four. But if he got to England and his English was too marginal for spying he was hardly a master linguist in English at that time. However he did speak good German and German is a fairly complex language to pick up , plus Swedish and he used his Swedish in a spy context, so it must have been at a near native level. Where McIntyre is a bit economical with detail on Ames' treachery is this - 24 hrs before G was called back Ames had told them that MI6 was running a Russian double agent in London. He did not provide the name at that stage but he did later on . That is what saved G originally. His life was extended because he apparently never confessed to spying while under drugs. This may have been because he took a Caffeine pill that he was generically provided with in London... his strong will may also have influenced the outcome. The KGB were loath to execute him without a full confession. Therefore they let him out into Moscow society, hoping he would be caught making contact with the British in some way , which would then seal his fate and also enable the Russian FM to eject any diplomats involved. But there the KGB fell over - McIntyre's story will give the details.
god i thought foot looks like james j angleton.
Ben M used pseudonyms for most of the MI6 people. During the talk he makes a slip and refers to Veronica Petit. Possibly she was Vicky Petit or Vera Petit but the rabbit is out of the hat. Will be interesting to see if the comment is deleted.
Valerie Pettit?
@@maxhaughton1964 Yah Max .. www.thetimes.co.uk/article/valerie-pettit-obituary-c2vpg258k YOu max, you as member British Intelligensia are asset to great Soviet Republic. we pay good money , Rubles.. you want I talk to Great friend of Mine, Boris.
@@maxhaughton1964 as per below. Just a leg pull. Tim Fidler in Nz.. we do only French spies down here and even that not so often. Boring... The name " max haughton " rings a bell.. some sort of UK Journalist or writer.. but I could be mistoooken. It happens.
Her name was Valerie Pettit. She was a friend of mine. Died in December of 2019 and Obituary March 24 2020 in The Times of London.
@@marthaeheard She was so brave. She planned Olegs escape from Russia.
RIP Valerie
18:38 I've heard some "I'm not gay" excuses before but that's a new one.
Yes I know it's not an excuse...
At the end of the day Ben, you are a Macintyre, so there is a Scot in your DNA. 🏴😝
What has that to do with this film?
Freedom for Ireland.