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Presented by Village Books and Alleyn's School.
It’s 1981 and 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 tells the true story of the enigmatic double agent whose intelligence reached the highest levels of the British and American governments, blew open the KGB’s inner workings, exposed the Kremlin’s covert plan, and helped avert catastrophe at the height of the Cold War.
‘Redwood’ was the MI6 codename for a six-foot four Russian intelligence officer who made the decision to expose the KGB’s deepest secrets. Kuzichkin lived with a private truth that, if discovered by the Kremlin, would have destroyed him. In a desperate situation, he reached out to MI6.
Redwood is the gripping tale of one man’s courage, and its extraordinary consequences that shape our world today. It’s about a moving friendship between spies on opposite sides of the Cold War; about marriage, loyalty, betrayal and sexual dysfunction; and about how decisions made in secrets can have huge, long-term ramifications.
“Redwood was a spy unlike any I have come across before, whose impact on history was profound, lasting, and concealed for over 40 years. As Iran erupts in violence once again, his tale could not be more timely. I am so delighted to be bringing his story to readers for the first time.” Ben Macintyre.
Ben Macintyre is the multimillion-copy bestselling author of books including The Siege, Colditz, The Spy and the Traitor, SAS: Rogue Heroes, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat and A Spy Among Friends. 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.