At the height of the Cold War, a single Soviet intelligence officer made a decision that would alter the course of history. Operating under the MI6 codename 'Redwood', this extraordinary double agent secretly passed some of the Kremlin's most closely guarded intelligence to Britain and the United States, helping to avert a potentially catastrophic confrontation between East and West. Ben Macintyre tells the story of a hitherto unknown and unsung hero of the Cold War – and of one of the greatest intelligence successes of the 20th century. With access to newly released archive material, together with interviews with former officers from MI6, MI5, the CIA and the KGB, Ben captures the human drama of espionage – friendship, loyalty, betrayal and vulnerability – and shows how one man's courage had consequences that continue to resonate in today's geopolitical landscape. There will be a book signing after this event . Get ahead of your Festival reading and visit the Waterstones Cheltenham Literature Festival bookshop and support Cheltenham Festivals with every purchase.

Description supplied by the event organiser.