by Mark Urban
First published 2020
In spring 2018, former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia collapsed in Salisbury, England, victims of Novichok nerve agent poisoning. BBC correspondent Mark Urban had spent months interviewing Skripal before the attack, making him the only journalist to whom the ex-spy confided his story. Urban traces Skripal's journey from Russian intelligence colonel to MI6 double agent, through his arrest and trial in Russia, to his new life in southern England after a 2010 prisoner exchange. Living under constant fear of Putin's revenge, Skripal's worst nightmare became reality on that fateful day in Salisbury. The assassination attempt triggered the largest expulsion of Russian diplomats since the Cold War, with over 140 officials ejected from Western nations and harsh trade sanctions imposed. Urban places this dramatic poisoning within the broader context of deteriorating East-West relations, revealing how Russian intelligence operates in the modern era.
Genres: history, political-science, non-fiction, 21st-century, espionage, russia
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: deception, espionage
Setting: England, Salisbury, Russia
Period: 2018, Cold War, Modern Era
352 pages · Paperback · Droemer TB