Ben Macintyre

Tosielämän trillerien mestari kertoo sotahistorian uhkarohkeimman erikoisjoukon tarinan.Kun toinen maailmansota raivosi Pohjois-Afrikassa, rämäpäinen nuori brittiupseeri kehitteli uuden tavan käydä sotaa: vihollisen kimppuun käytäisiin selustassa, missä hyökkäystä ei osattu odottaa. Erikoisjoukkosodankäynnin uraauurtava yksikkö SAS oli syntynyt. Kovaan joukkoon värvättiin häikäilemättömimmät sotilaat. Aavikkolentokentille tehtyjä iskuja seurasi armoton sota Euroopan taistelukentillä.Ben Macintyre sukeltaa SAS-erikoisjoukkojen syntytarinaan yksinoikeudella käyttöön saamiensa dokumenttien, kuvien ja haastatteluiden avulla. Teoksen pohjalta on tehty HBO-sarja Rogue Heroes."Macintyre on vahvimmillaan kun hän kuvaa SAS:n taistelijoita kaikkine kummallisuuksineen. Hän on taitava kynäniekka, joka ei putoa perinteisten sotakirjoittajien ansakuoppaan, jossa nimetään loputtomasti sotilasyksiköitä ja kerrotaan niiden vaiheista väsymykseen asti." - Helsingin Sanomat

The year is 1981. Tehran is in violent turmoil in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. The Soviets are planning to overthrow the Ayatollah's fledgling Islamist regime. If they do so, one response from America - unknown to the public - would be to use nuclear weapons. Redwood is the story of how at the height of the Cold War, one mysterious double agent, whose intelligence reached the highest levels of British and American governments, cracked open the KGB, revealed the Kremlin's secret plot and prevented Armageddon. 'Redwood' was the MI6 codename for this unsung, hitherto unknown hero of the Cold War, a highly-trained six-foot-four Russian intelligence officer who chose to expose the KGB's deepest secrets, compelled to swap sides by a shaming secret of his own. Facing exposure, with both the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and his own KGB colleagues closing in, he demanded that MI6 try to smuggle him out of Iran in a high-stakes escape plan. This is the gripping tale of one man's courage, and its extraordinary unintended consequences that still shape our world today. It's about a moving friendship between spies on opposite sides of the global conflict; about marriage, loyalty, betrayal and sexual dysfunction; and about how decisions made in secret can have huge, long-term ramifications. Drawing on never-before-seen material from archives in multiple countries, and interviews with the participants including officers from MI6 and MI5, the KGB and CIA, Redwood combines the shadowy world of the Spy and the Traitor with the action of SAS: Rogue Heroes. It lifts the lid on an unknown and highly significant Cold War victory, on the machinations of history's Great Game, and on how espionage really works. Without Redwood, our world would be very different - and might not exist at all.

The year is 1981. Tehran is in violent turmoil in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. The Soviets are planning to overthrow the Ayatollah’s fledgling Islamist regime. If they do so, one response from America – unknown to the public – would be to use nuclear weapons. Redwood is the story of how at the height of the Cold War, one mysterious double agent, whose intelligence reached the highest levels of British and American governments, cracked open the KGB, revealed the Kremlin’s secret plot and prevented Armageddon. ‘Redwood’ was the MI6 codename for this unsung, hitherto unknown hero of the Cold War, a highly-trained six-foot-four Russian intelligence officer who chose to expose the KGB’s deepest secrets, compelled to swap sides by a shaming secret of his own. Facing exposure, with both the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and his own KGB colleagues closing in, he demanded that MI6 try to smuggle him out of Iran in a high-stakes escape plan. This is the gripping tale of one man’s courage, and its extraordinary unintended consequences that still shape our world today. It’s about a moving friendship between spies on opposite sides of the global conflict; about marriage, loyalty, betrayal and sexual dysfunction; and about how decisions made in secret can have huge, long-term ramifications. Drawing on never-before-seen material from archives in multiple countries, and interviews with the participants including officers from MI6 and MI5, the KGB and CIA, Redwood combines the shadowy world of the Spy and the Traitor with the action of SAS: Rogue Heroes. It lifts the lid on an unknown and highly significant Cold War victory, on the machinations of history's Great Game, and on how espionage really works. Without Redwood, our world would be very different – and might not exist at all.

'Macintyre does true-life espionage better than anyone else' John PrestonFrom the author of Sunday Times #1 bestsellers COLDITZ, SAS: ROGUE HEROES and THE SPY AND THE TRAITOR . . .On April 30, 1980, six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian embassy on Princes Gate, overlooking Hyde Park in London. There they took 26 hostages, including embassy staff, visitors, and three British citizens.A tense six-day siege ensued as millions gathered around screens across the country to witness the longest news flash in British television history, in which police negotiators and psychiatrists sought a bloodless end to the standoff, while the SAS - hitherto an organisation shrouded in secrecy - laid plans for a daring rescue mission: Operation Nimrod.Drawing on unpublished source material, exclusive interviews with the SAS, and testimony from witnesses including hostages, negotiators, intelligence officers and the on-site psychiatrist, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes readers on a gripping journey from the years and weeks of build-up on both sides, to the minute-by-minute account of the siege and rescue.Recreating the dramatic conversations between negotiators and hostages, the cutting-edge intelligence work happening behind-the-scenes, and the media frenzy around this moment of international significance, The Siege is the remarkable story of what really happened on those fateful six days, and the first full account of a moment that forever changed the way the nation thought about the SAS - and itself.

"For six days, it was the Iranian Embassy on Princes Gate in London that riveted the world. . . . Macintyre's superb reconstruction restores it to vivid, complex life."--The Washington Post A thrilling tick-tock recounting one of the most harrowing hostage situations and daring rescue attempts of our time--from the true-life espionage master and New York Times bestselling author of Operation Mincemeat and The Spy and the Traitor. " Ben Macintyre is] John le Carré's nonfiction counterpart."--The New York Times A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Minnesota Star Tribune, ParadeAs the American hostage crisis in Iran boiled into its seventh month in the spring of 1980, six heavily armed gunman barged into the Iranian embassy in London, taking twenty-six hostages. What followed over the next six days was an increasingly tense standoff, one that threatened at any moment to spill into a bloodbath. Policeman Trevor Lock was supposed to have gone to the theater that night. Instead, he found himself overpowered and whisked into the embassy. The terrorists never noticed the gun hidden in his jacket. The drama that ensued would force him to find reserves of courage he didn't know he had. The gunmen themselves were hardly one-dimensional--all Arabs, some highly educated, who hoped to force Britain to take their side in their independence battle against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Behind the scenes lurked the brutal Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who had bankrolled the whole affair as a salvo against Iran. As police negotiators pressed the gunmen, rival protestors clashed violently outside the embassy, and as MI6 and the CIA scrambled for intelligence, Britain's special forces strike team, the SAS, laid plans for a dangerous rescue mission. Inside, Lock and his fellow hostages used all the cunning they possessed to outwit and outflank their captors. Finally, on the sixth day, after the terrorists executed the embassy press attach and dumped his body on the front doorstep, the SAS raid began, sparking a deadly high-stakes climax. A story of ordinary men and women under immense pressure, The Siege takes readers minute-by-thrilling-minute through an event that would echo across the next two decades and provide a direct historical link to the tragedy on 9/11. Drawing on exclusive interviews and a wealth of never-before-seen files, Macintyre brilliantly reconstructs a week in which every day minted a new hero and every second spelled the potential for doom.

‘Unforgettable’ Independent‘Fresh and gripping’ TelegraphTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLEROn April 30, 1980, six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian embassy on Princes Gate, overlooking Hyde Park in London. There they took 26 hostages, including embassy staff, visitors, and three British citizens.A tense six-day siege ensued as millions gathered around screens across the country to witness the longest news flash in British television history, in which police negotiators and psychiatrists sought a bloodless end to the standoff, while the SAS – hitherto an organisation shrouded in secrecy – laid plans for a daring rescue mission: Operation Nimrod.Drawing on unpublished source material, exclusive interviews with the SAS, and testimony from witnesses including hostages, negotiators, intelligence officers and the on-site psychiatrist, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes readers on a gripping journey from the years and weeks of build-up on both sides, to the minute-by-minute account of the siege and rescue.Recreating the dramatic conversations between negotiators and hostages, the cutting-edge intelligence work happening behind-the-scenes, and the media frenzy around this moment of international significance, The Siege is the remarkable story of what really happened on those fateful six days, and the first full account of a moment that forever changed the way the nation thought about the SAS – and itself.'The pre-eminent historian of the secret world . . . His books have set the gold standard for accurate historical reporting, but read like heart-pounding thrillers' Mick Herron‘Macintyre does true-life espionage better than anyone else’ John Preston

FROM THE NO. 1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SAS: ROGUE HEROES AND THE SPY AND THE TRAITOR. DISCOVER THE STORY OF THE SIX DAYS THAT SHOOK THE NATION!___________________April 30, 1980. Six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian embassy in London, taking 26 people hostage.A tense six-day siege ensued as millions gathered around screens across the country to witness the longest news flash in British history. Six days in which police negotiators and psychiatrists sought a bloodless end to the standoff, and the SAS laid plans for a daring rescue mission.Drawing on unpublished source material, exclusive interviews, and witness testimony, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre tells the dramatic story in full for the first time – from the years and weeks of build-up on both sides, to the minute-by-minute of the rescue.The Siege is the remarkable story of what really happened on those fateful six days, of a moment that forever changed the way the nation thought about the SAS, and itself, forever.___________________'Masterly . . . it has never been recounted so pleasurably as it has been here' New York Times‘Macintyre does true-life espionage better than anyone else’ John PrestonBen Macintyre, Sunday Times bestseller, August 2023

"For six days, it was the Iranian Embassy on Princes Gate in London that riveted the world. . . . Macintyre's superb reconstruction restores it to vivid, complex life."--The Washington Post A thrilling tick-tock recounting one of the most harrowing hostage situations and daring rescue attempts of our time--from the true-life espionage master and New York Times bestselling author of Operation Mincemeat and The Spy and the Traitor. " Ben Macintyre is] John le Carré's nonfiction counterpart."--The New York Times A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Minnesota Star Tribune, ParadeAs the American hostage crisis in Iran boiled into its seventh month in the spring of 1980, six heavily armed gunman barged into the Iranian embassy in London, taking twenty-six hostages. What followed over the next six days was an increasingly tense standoff, one that threatened at any moment to spill into a bloodbath. Policeman Trevor Lock was supposed to have gone to the theater that night. Instead, he found himself overpowered and whisked into the embassy. The terrorists never noticed the gun hidden in his jacket. The drama that ensued would force him to find reserves of courage he didn't know he had. The gunmen themselves were hardly one-dimensional--all Arabs, some highly educated, who hoped to force Britain to take their side in their independence battle against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Behind the scenes lurked the brutal Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who had bankrolled the whole affair as a salvo against Iran. As police negotiators pressed the gunmen, rival protestors clashed violently outside the embassy, and as MI6 and the CIA scrambled for intelligence, Britain's special forces strike team, the SAS, laid plans for a dangerous rescue mission. Inside, Lock and his fellow hostages used all the cunning they possessed to outwit and outflank their captors. Finally, on the sixth day, after the terrorists executed the embassy press attach and dumped his body on the front doorstep, the SAS raid began, sparking a deadly high-stakes climax. A story of ordinary men and women under immense pressure, The Siege takes readers minute-by-thrilling-minute through an event that would echo across the next two decades and provide a direct historical link to the tragedy on 9/11. Drawing on exclusive interviews and a wealth of never-before-seen files, Macintyre brilliantly reconstructs a week in which every day minted a new hero and every second spelled the potential for doom.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The "superb and] intensely readable" (The Washington Post) untold story of one of the greatest deceptions of World War II and the extraordinary spies who achieved it--from the bestselling author of Prisoners of the Castle "Not since Ian Fleming and John le Carr has a spy writer so captivated readers."--The Hollywood Reporter On June 6, 1944, 150,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy and suffered an astonishingly low rate of casualties. A stunning military achievement, it was also a masterpiece of trickery. Operation Fortitude, which protected and enabled the invasion, and the Double Cross system, which specialized in turning German spies into double agents, tricked the Nazis into believing that the Allied attacks would come in Calais and Norway rather than Normandy. It was the most sophisticated and successful deception operation ever carried out, ensuring Allied victory at the most pivotal moment in the war. This epic event has never before been told from the perspective of the key individuals in the Double Cross system, until now. These include its director (a brilliant, urbane intelligence officer), a colorful assortment of MI5 handlers (as well as their counterparts in Nazi intelligence), and the five spies who formed Double Cross's nucleus: a dashing Serbian playboy, a Polish fighter-pilot, a bisexual Peruvian party girl, a deeply eccentric Spaniard, and a volatile Frenchwoman. Together they made up one of the oddest and most brilliant military units ever assembled. With the same depth of research, eye for the absurd, and masterful storytelling that have made Ben Macintyre an international bestseller, Double Cross is a captivating narrative of the spies who wove a web so intricate it ensnared Hitler's army and carried thousands of D-Day troops across the Channel in safety.

Den 6 juni 1944 landsteg 150 000 allierade soldater vid Normandies stränder. Dagen D var en makalös militär prestation, men även ett mästerverk i vilseledning som innefattade samtliga delar av de allierades underrättelsetjänst Spionerna som möjliggjorde invasionen av Normandie var fem till antalet och tveklöst en av de underligaste och mest excentriska skara människor som någonsin deltagit i ett krig: en bisexuell peruansk playgirl, en kortväxt polsk stridspilot, en serbisk Casanova, en spansk kycklinguppfödare med en mer än livlig fantasi samt en hysterisk fransyska vars besatthet av sin hund närapå kom att välta hela invasionen över ända. Men framgången vilade även på en sjätte spions hjältemodiga uppoffring; en historia som nu för första gången kan berättas i sin helhet. Double Cross är den tredje och avslutande delen i Ben Macintyre´s framgångsrika spiontriologi. De tidigare fristående delarna Agent ZigZag och Operation Mincemeat har blivit hyllade av såväl läsare som kritiker världen över.

The amazing tale of a resourceful and unscrupulous early-19th-century American adventurer who forges his own kingdom in the wilds of Afghanistan.

A wartime romance, survival saga and murder mystery set in rural France during the First World War, from the bestselling author of â??Operation Mincemeatâ?? and â??Agent Zig-Zagâ??.

Tosielämän trillerien mestari kertoo kaksoisagentista kylmän sodan kuumassa pisteessä. Vuonna 1982 Neuvostoliitto soti Afganistanissa ja suunnitteli Iranin haltuunottoa vallankaappauksella. Teheranissa ristesivät kolmen vakoojan tiet. Koodinimellä Redwood tunnettu KGB-mies oli pettynyt neuvostojärjestelmään ja tarvitsi länsimaisen lääketieteen apua. Hän kääntyi paikallisen CIA-päällikön ja maassa toimivan brittiagentin puoleen kohtalokkain seurauksin. Ben Macintyre kertoo yhden miehen ratkaisusta, joka esti kylmän sodan ajautumisen ydinsodan partaalle. Sen hintana olivat tuhansien iranilaisten henget, kun salaliittolaisten nimet paljastuivat. Vainojen jäljet vaikuttavat Lähi-idässä edelleen.

Piinaavan jännittävä tositarina maailmaa järisyttäneestä panttivankidraamasta. Keväällä 1980 aseistettu miesjoukko hyökkäsi Iranin Lontoon-suurlähetystöön ja otti 26 panttivankia. Pian miljoonat seurasivat dramaattista piiritystä suorassa tv-lähetyksessä. Neuvottelijat pitivät yhteyttä iranilaisiin kaappaajiin ja pyrkivät ratkaisemaan tilanteen rauhanomaisesti. Samaan aikaan SAS-erikoisjoukkojen salainen yksikkö suunnitteli kulisseissa kovaotteista pelastusoperaatiota. Tositrillerien mestari Ben Macintyre kertoo vetävään tapaansa kuudesta kohtalokkaasta päivästä, joina verenvuodatukselta ei vältytty. Taidokkaasti hän piirtää tapahtumista tarkan kuvan minuutti minuutilta.

»Jag vet inte riktigt hur Ben Macintyre gör för att lyckas med att underhålla med espri, berättarglädje och humor, samtidigt som han får oss att skälva inför krigets klaustrofobi, hopplösheten, döden och de outplånliga ärr man för alltid bär med sig från fångenskapens helvete. Han gör det i alla fall. Det är något av en litterär bragd.« JOHAN CRONEMAN, DAGENS NYHETERPå toppen av en kulle i den lilla staden Colditz, mitt i Tyskland, reser sig ett medeltida slott. Byggnaden gjordes av nazisterna under andra världskriget om till ett högsäkerhetsfängelse för särskilt rymningsbenägna krigsfångar. Innanför slottets murar hamnade en brokig skara brittiska och amerikanska officerare som genast smidde planer för hur de skulle kunna ta sig därifrån. Det är historien om dessa män som den bästsäljande författaren Ben Macintyre berättar. Med ett digert källmaterial som grund presenterar han hittills okända delar av historien om Colditz.Här skildras fångarnas desperation, tristess och det ena förbluffande uppfinningsrika flyktförsöket efter det andra. Här ges en inblick i livet i slottet, där fångarna byggde upp ett slags mikrosamhälle med hierarkier och hemliga allianser, hjältar och förrädare. Här berörs klasskamp, snobberi, homosexualitet, ensamhet, galenskap och fars. Men framför allt människors vägran att låta sig kuvas.

Tositrilleri natsien legendaarisesta linnavankilasta ja sen vankien hengästyttävän uskaliaista paoista. Natsi-Saksa vangitsi Colditzin linnaan liittoutuneiden upseereita, joiden pelättiin yrittävän pakoa. Pelko ei ollut turha: sadat pakoyritykset tekivät saksalaislinnasta kuuluisan.Bestselleristi Ben Macintyre kertoo mukaansatempaavasti Colditzin vangeista ja vartijoista. Herrasmiesleiri poikkesi monista sodan kauhuista: siellä ei nähty summittaisia teloituksia, ja upseerivangeilla oli omia sotilaspalvelijoita. Muurien sisään syntyi omalaatuinen yhteisö, jossa toivoa ylläpitävään toverihenkeen yhdistyivät rasismi ja brittiläisen luokkayhteiskunnan nokkimisjärjestys.

Tosielämän trillerien mestari kertoo sotahistorian uhkarohkeimman erikoisjoukon tarinan.Kun toinen maailmansota raivosi Pohjois-Afrikassa, rämäpäinen nuori brittiupseeri kehitteli uuden tavan käydä sotaa: vihollisen kimppuun käytäisiin selustassa, missä hyökkäystä ei osattu odottaa. Erikoisjoukkosodankäynnin uraauurtava yksikkö SAS oli syntynyt. Kovaan joukkoon värvättiin häikäilemättömimmät sotilaat. Aavikkolentokentille tehtyjä iskuja seurasi armoton sota Euroopan taistelukentillä.Ben Macintyre sukeltaa SAS-erikoisjoukkojen syntytarinaan yksinoikeudella käyttöön saamiensa dokumenttien, kuvien ja haastatteluiden avulla. Teoksen pohjalta on tehty HBO-sarja Rogue Heroes.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD'Engrossing as any thriller' Daily Telegraph'Superb. Meticulously researched, splendidly told, immensely entertaining' John le Carré'This is the most amazing book, full of fascinating and hair-raising true life adventures . . . It would be impossible to recommend it too highly' Mail on Sunday_______One December night in 1942, a Nazi parachutist landed in a Cambridgeshire field. His mission: to sabotage the British war effort.His name was Eddie Chapman, but he would shortly become MI5's Agent Zigzag. Dashing and suave, courageous and unpredictable, Chapman was by turns a traitor, a hero, a villain and a man of conscience. But, as his spymasters and many lovers often wondered, who was the real Eddie Chapman?Ben Macintyre weaves together diaries, letters, photographs, memories and top-secret MI5 files to create an exhilarating account of Britain's most sensational double agent.

THE SUNDAY TIMES No. 1 BESTSELLERWITH AN AFTERWORD BY JOHN LE CARRÉ'Riveting, astounding . . . An unputdownable postwar thriller' Observer'Irresistibly readable' Sunday Times'Worthy of John le Carré at his best' Guardian'Hugely engrossing . . . Both authoritative and enthralling' William Boyd________________Kim Philby was the most notorious British defector and Soviet mole in history. Agent, double agent, traitor and enigma, he betrayed every secret of Allied operations to the Russians in the early years of the Cold War.In the aftermath of the Second World War, Philby, Nicholas Elliott and James Jesus Angleton were rising stars in the intelligence world and shared every secret. Elliott and Angleton thought they knew Philby better than anyone - and then discovered they had not known him at all.This is a story of loyalty, trust and treachery, of male friendships forged, and then systematically betrayed. With access to newly released MI5 files and previously unseen papers, A Spy Among Friends unlocks what was perhaps the last great secret of the Cold War.

'Addictive and deeply moving' Independent'Utterly gripping' Anthony Beevor, Daily Telegraph'Enthralling . . . A reminder that heroism can be found in the most unlikely places' Evening Standard'I have seldom enjoyed a spy story more than this one' Max Hastings, Sunday Times_____________________D-Day, 6 June 1944, the turning point of the Second World War, was a victory of arms. But it was also a triumph for a different kind of operation: one of deceit . . .At the heart of the deception was the 'Double Cross System', a team of double agents whose bravery, treachery, greed and inspiration succeeded in convincing the Nazis that Calais and Norway, not Normandy, were the targets of the 150,000-strong Allied invasion force. Under the direction of an eccentric but brilliant intelligence officer in tartan trousers, working from a smoky lair in St James's, these spies would weave a web of deception so intricate that it ensnared Hitler's army and helped to carry thousands of troops across the Channel in safety.These double agents were, variously, brave, treacherous, fickle, greedy and inspired. They were not conventional warriors, but their masterpiece of deceit saved countless lives. Their codenames were Bronx, Brutus, Treasure, Tricycle and Garbo. And this is their story.