Book Summary and Reviews of Treachery by Chapman Pincher

Treachery by Chapman Pincher

Treachery

Betrayals, Blunders, and Cover-ups: Six Decades of Espionage Against America and Great Britain

by Chapman Pincher

  • Critics' Consensus (0):
  • Published:
  • Jul 2009, 704 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

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.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"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

This information about Treachery was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Click here and be the first to review this book!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Chapman Pincher

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.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked Treachery, try these:

  • Table for Two jacket

    Table for Two

    by Amor Towles

    Published 2025

    About this book

    From the bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway, A Gentleman in Moscow, and Rules of Civility, a richly detailed and sharply drawn collection of stories, including a novella featuring one of his most beloved characters

  • After Sappho jacket

    After Sappho

    by Selby Wynn. Schwartz

    Published 2024

    About this book

    An exhilarating debut from a radiant new voice, After Sappho reimagines the intertwined lives of feminists at the turn of the twentieth century.

  • Mercury Pictures Presents jacket

    Mercury Pictures Presents

    by Anthony Marra

    Published 2023

    About this book

    The epic tale of a brilliant woman who must reinvent herself to survive, moving from Mussolini's Italy to 1940s Los Angeles—a timeless story of love, deceit, and sacrifice from the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

We have 13 read-alikes for Treachery, but non-members are limited to three results. Join free to see the complete list of recommendations.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes

More History, Current Affairs and Religion

Browse all History, Current Affairs and Religion books

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!
Win This Book
Win Theo of Golden

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…

Enter

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    Merry-Go-Round Broke Down
    by David Woo, Margalit Shinar
    Nine linked stories reveal how globalization sparks life-changing consequences across continents.
  • Book Jacket
    Days of Sun and Shadow
    by India Hayford
    A young woman’s coming-of-age story set in the early American frontier, shaped by tragedy, nature, and resilience.
  • Book Jacket
    Chelsea Girls
    by Catherine Lloyd
    A glamorous biographical novel on Mary Quant, whose daring design of the miniskirt revolutionized fashion.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket
    An Infinite Love Story
    by Chanel Cleeton
    “A tender, romantic drama that soars as high as it’s astronauts.” —Kate Quinn
  • Book Jacket
    Summer of Love
    by Kerri Maher
    Three women reshape their family's Napa Valley winery after the 1967 Summer of Love.
Book
Trivia
  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

The C is A R

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.