Books by Ben Macintyre
Ben Macintyre is Associate Editor at The Times and writes a weekly column on history, espionage, art, politics and foreign affairs. He is also a bestselling author of nonfiction books, some of the best in the genre of seriously researched, but popularly written, books about spies.
The Spy and the Traitor
by Ben Macintyre
☆ Shortlisted for the 2018 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction
The Spy and the Traitor by British journalist Ben MacIntyre is a true story which reads like a thriller. It’s the story of Oleg Gordievsky, a Soviet KGB officer who became a double agent and worked for Britain’s CIA equivalent, MI6. He’s also the only double agent Britain ever managed to get out of the Soviet Union alive. John le Carré called The Spy and the Traitor the “best true spy story” he had ever read, and it was shortlisted for the prestigious Baillie Gifford Prize as one of the best nonfiction books of 2018. If that’s not enough of a reason to start listening, Five Books CEO Juliet Frost says it’s the best audiobook she’s listened to all year.
Narrator: Ben MacIntryre
Length: 14 hours and 32 minutes
“It’s the story of Oleg Gordievsky, who was probably the most important British spy in Soviet Russia since the Second World War…it’s an incredible read. It’s like a truly rip-roaring piece of the absolutely best spy fiction.” Read more...
The Best Nonfiction Books of 2018
Fiammetta Rocco, Artists & Art Critic
Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy
by Ben Macintyre
Agent Sonya is the latest book by Ben Macintyre, who has made an art of writing nonfiction books about spies that read like thrillers (If you haven't read The Spy and the Traitor yet, you must). Agent Sonya was the codename of Ursula Kuczynski, a German Jew who ended up living in an English village and spying for the Russians.
“I think Macintyre is particularly good at taking very thorough scholarship and translating it into an entertaining story, so that, without realising it, you’re learning about real historical facts. His books are scrupulous in the accuracy of their detail but reading them is like eating a bar of candy. The Napoleon of Crime was the first of his books that I read. To be fair, it’s not really about art crime. It’s about a person called Adam Worth who, after Al Capone, is probably the most famous criminal in history. The term ‘the Napoleon of crime’ was coined to describe him, and he was the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes’s nemesis Moriarty.” Read more...
Noah Charney, Novelist
Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle
by Ben Macintyre
An excellent account of the characters and life in one of the most infamous World War II POW camps. Even if you think you know the story of Colditz, Ben Macintyre brings new insights and context to the Gothic castle, its inhabitants and the surrounding area.
The Siege: A Six-Day Hostage Crisis and the Daring Special-Forces Operation That Shocked the World
by Ben Macintyre
Ben Macintyre is the author of several unmissable nonfiction books about spies, including The Spy and the Traitor and Agent Sonya. The Siege is another pacy book, this time about the SAS, the UK's elite army unit, which rescued hostages from a siege at the Iranian embassy in London in 1980. The book is also interesting on the motivation of the terrorists, who came from a part of Iran that was being repressed by Ayatollah Khomeini's regime.
Interviews with Ben Macintyre
The best books on Spies, recommended by Ben Macintyre
The British public-school system, with its hidden homosexuality and feelings of loneliness, encouraged subterfuge and led to a generation of great spy writers and spies, suggests author and journalist Ben Macintyre. He picks the best books on spies.
Interviews where books by Ben Macintyre were recommended
The best books on Afghanistan, recommended by Thomas Barfield
Anthropologist and Afghanistan expert Thomas Barfield gives a panoramic view of Afghanistan, from founding dynasties to the failed central Asian states of today. He picks the best books on Afghanistan.
The best books on Art Crime, recommended by Noah Charney
Art historian Noah Charney takes us on a grand tour of art theft and looting, taking in the Romans, Cosa Nostra and the man who stole the most famous painting in the world and didn’t know what to do with it.
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Hello World: How to Be Human in the Age of the Machine
by Hannah Fry -
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The Spy and the Traitor
by Ben Macintyre -
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Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man
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Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age
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Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy
by Serhii Plokhy -
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She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity
by Carl Zimmer
The Best Nonfiction Books of 2018, recommended by Fiammetta Rocco
The Best Nonfiction Books of 2018, recommended by Fiammetta Rocco
It’s a difficult task: to identify the very best nonfiction books of the year. But the Baillie Gifford Prize aims to do just that. The chair of the prize’s 2018 judging panel Fiammetta Rocco talks to us about the six fascinating titles that made the shortlist.
