Betrayals, Blunders, and Cover-ups: Six Decades of Espionage Against America and Great Britain
by Chapman Pincher
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jul 2009
704 pages
Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
Publication Information
This landmark book is a massive, meticulous, and utterly riveting account of the duplicity and incompetence that characterized twentieth-century Soviet espionage and the British response to it.
Using a huge cache of recently released documents and exclusive interviews, Chapman Pincher makes a compelling new case that—as he has long believed—the head of Britain's own MI5, Roger Hollis, was a double agent acting to undermine and imperil the United Kingdom and America. Here too, Pincher provides an exciting new perspective on the most famous operatives of our time, from Kim Philby to Klaus Fuchs, and recounts suspect incidences of dark happenstance and coincidence, such as the infamous "Profumo Affair" sex scandal.
Written with the power of a heart-pounding thriller, Treachery is a warning about protecting our societies and institutions from enemy infiltration, and is bound to become a much-cited source now that Russia is dangerously flexing its military—and espionage—muscles once again.
"A disturbing history and a warning about continued Russian espionage and Western weaknesses; of interest to a wide range of readers." - Library Journal
"Occasionally tiresome, but Pincher provides a comprehensive, almost irrefutable indictment." - Kirkus Reviews
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Chapman Pincher is the most experienced and perhaps the best-known British espionage writer. Born in India in 1914, he was educated at King's College London and the Royal Military College of Science. His book Their Trade Is Treachery, which first charged Sir Roger Hollis with being a Soviet agent, was a sensation. For decades he has been the most effective critic of the British security system, and over the years he has broken scores of stories that have created headlines.
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