Oleg Gordievsky was the highest ranking KGB officer ever to work for Britain. For eleven years, he acted as a secret agent, reporting to the British Secret Intelligence Service while continuing to work as a KGB officer. He gave such a clear insight into the mind and methods of the KGB and the whole system of Soviet Government that he has been credited with doing more than any other individual in the West to accelerate the collapse of Communism. Here, for the first time meticulously planned escape from Russia is described. Gordievsky’s autobiography gives a fascinating account of life as a secret agent. It also paints the most graphic picture yet of the paranoia and incompetence, intrigues and sheer nastiness of the all-encompassing and ridiculous KGB.

Oleg Gordievsky was the highest ranking KGB officer ever to work for Britain. For eleven years, he acted as a secret agent, reporting to the British Secret Intelligence Service while continuing to work as a KGB officer. He gave such a clear insight into the mind and methods of the KGB and the whole system of Soviet Government that he has been credited with doing more than any other individual in the West to accelerate the collapse of Communism. Here, for the first time meticulously planned escape from Russia is described. Gordievsky’s autobiography gives a fascinating account of life as a secret agent. It also paints the most graphic picture yet of the paranoia and incompetence, intrigues and sheer nastiness of the all-encompassing and ridiculous KGB.