The spy and the traitor : the greatest espionage story of the Cold War
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Oleg Gordievsky was a spy like no other. The product of a KGB family and the best Soviet institutions, the savvy, sophisticated Russian eventually saw the lies and terror of the regime for what they were, a realization that turned him irretrievably toward the West. His career brought him to the highest post in the KGB's London station while secretly working for British intelligence. He helped foil Soviet plots, expose spies, and avoid nuclear escalation. No Western country had ever run a spy so high up in Russian intelligence, which is why M16 fiercely guarded Gordievsky's identity, even from the CIA. But the American spy agency was bent on discovering the British source, unaware that their head of counterintelligence -- Aldrich Ames -- was secretly spying for the Soviets. A riveting story of intrigue set in the Cold War's twilight, this book sounds frightening echoes of today, when Russian spies are once again front-page headlines and superpower conflict dominates the globe. --,Adapted from jacket.