The review of “The spy and the Traitor”

•  Background

I picked this book as a practice of English reading, because the theme of this book was obviously interesting - a story of the spy in Russia but working for MI6.

After reading through the whole book, I am happy with my choice.

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War (English Edition)

• My impressions

My first impression is... "Is this a real story? Are these intelligence battles, hard negotiations, and maliculous spying plan actually being executed by intelligence services in the world???" It was so exciting, thrilling, and unbelievable story.

In addition, I was shocked by the gap in KGB between the HQ in Moscow and the field in each West country. According to this book, the HQ assumed that the West was ready to start a nuclear war, whereas the filed were fully understanding that the West hoped a non-violent measure to resolve the Cold War. However, since it was regarded as disobedient to address the wrong assumption of the HQ, the filed staffs just followed an order from the HQ to gather evidences which will prove that West is proceeding the preparation of a nuclear missile launch.

I think this gap is happening always in Japanese organisations. And this finding let me understand why Gorbachez mentioned that Japan was the most successful communism country. We Japan are focusing on equality, social welfare, hierarchical system, etc... Yes those characteristics are definitely similar with communism countries such as the Soviet Union.

Also, another interesting description was 1984. This book said about Big Brothers a few times, meaning that this book is based on the premise that the readers should have known about 1984. Therefore the author think 1984 is a very basic knowledge for British, or in a broader meaning, for people.

I expect that from now on I can enjoy movies and dramas about the Cold War of espionage more by referring to the knowledge I acquired from this book :)