The Greatest Traitor

The Secret Lives of Agent George Blake

By: Roger Hermiston

Narrated by: Michael Tudor Barnes

On 3 May 1961, after a trial conducted largely in secret, a man named George Blake was sentenced to an unprecedented 42 years in jail. By his own confession he was a Soviet spy, but the reasons for such a severe punishment were never revealed.

To the public, Blake was simply the greatest traitor of the Cold War. Yet his story touches not only the depths of treachery, but also the heights of heroism.

Drawing on hitherto unpublished records from his trial, new revelations about his dramatic jailbreak from Wormwood Scrubs, and original interviews with former spies, friends and the man himself this audiobook sheds new light on this most complex of characters and presents a fascinating shadow history of the Cold War.

©2013 Roger Hermiston (P)2013 Soundings

Ripping yarn, and all true!

Blake is a fascinating character and his life, thinking, and motivations are explored and presented in this well-written account. The era and historical context of the events are also explored so the book is both history lesson and biography as well as a ripping yarn. Blake was a highly intelligent and quite charismatic man who lived an exceptionally full and often exciting life with some nail-biting episodes to keep the reader enthralled. A fiction writer couldn't have created a more complex protagonist or a more interesting plot. Full marks to the author on every aspect of the book, and to Michael Tudor Barnes for his very competent narration.