RaveThe Spectator (UK)The story has been told before — including in Gordievsky’s own autobiography — but 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. As well as Gordievsky himself, Macintyre says he has had the assistance of all the living MI6 officers who worked on the case. This provides an unusually detailed sense of what the relationship between an agent and a spy service really looks like ... Beyond the importance of Gordievsky in terms of his intelligence, the book tells a very human story about one man’s decisions.
