Ben Macintyre

Bestselling historian of espionage Ben Macintyre discusses his latest book, Redwood, a timely account of a high-level KGB double agent operating within the turmoil of 1980s Iran.

In 1981, the violent wake of the Iranian Revolution, the Soviet Union secretly plotted to overthrow the Ayatollah’s fledgling regime. If they did so, it would prompt one response from the United States – nuclear attack. At the height of the Cold War, one mysterious Russian intelligence officer – codenamed Redwood by MI6 – was recruited to crack open the KGB’s plans and prevent nuclear Armageddon.

Drawing on never-before-published material, as well as interviews with the participants, including intelligence officers in MI6, MI5 and the KGB, Macintyre reconstructs this all-but-unknown but hugely significant Cold War victory.

Ben Macintyre is the author of books including The Siege, Colditz, The Spy and the Traitor, SAS: Rogue Heroes, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat and A Spy Among Friends. Several of his books, including Operation Mincemeat and SAS: Rogue Heroes have been adapted for film, television and stage. His most recent book, The Siege, the definitive history of the Iranian Embassy siege in London in 1980, was the best-selling history hardback of 2024.