The Anatomy of a Traitor A History of Espionage and Betrayal Synopsis
Each chapter centres on different motives, exploring them through the stories of famous spies, such as the Cambridge Five, Sidney Reilly and Aldrich Ames, following the path they took that lead, finally, to their treachery. Through in-depth insider knowledge, Michael Smith also uncovers new and unknown cases, including ISIS, President Trump's links with Russia and Edward Snowden's role as a whistleblower to offer compelling psychological portrait of these men and women, homing unerringly on the fault-lines and shady corners of their characters, their weaknesses and their strengths, the lies they tell other people, and the lies they always end up telling themselves.
Michael Smith is an award-winning journalist and the author of a number of bestselling books on spies, special forces and codebreaking including The Sunday Times number one bestseller Station X: The Codebreakers of Bletchley Park; Foley: The Spy Who Saved 10,000 Jews; The Spying Game and Killer Elite: The Inside Story of America’s Most Secret Special Operations Team. He is also the co-editor, with Ralph Erskine, of The Bletchley Park Codebreakers. Smith was a member of the British Army's Intelligence Corps before joining the BBC. He was a reporter and defence correspondent for both the Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Times covering the wars in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. Smith is a trustee of Bletchley Park and chair of the Trust’s Historical Advisory Committee. He lives near Henley-on-Thames.
