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Redwood
  • Published: 15 September 2026
  • ISBN: 9780241753569
  • Imprint: Viking Non Fiction
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 464
  • RRP: $36.99
Categories:

Redwood

The Untold Story of the Cold War's Most Extraordinary Spy

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
15 Sept 2026
EBook
10 Sept 2026
Audiobook
10 Sept 2026
Hardback
10 Oct 2026
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From the multi-million-selling historian, the remarkable, unknown Cold War story of how one spy saved the world from nuclear war

The year is 1981. 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. This is the story of how at the height of the Cold War, one mysterious double agent, known to MI6 as ‘Redwood’, revealed the Kremlin’s secret plot and prevented Armageddon.

This unsung, hitherto unknown hero of the Cold War, a six-foot-four Russian intelligence officer had a problem, a sexual secret, one that if revealed, would turn his life upside-down. So he reached out to MI6, believing it to have the only solution – in return for the KGB’s secrets. Then, facing exposure, he demanded that the British smuggle him out of Iran in a high-stakes escape plan.

This is the gripping tale of one man’s courage; about friendship, marriage, betrayal and sexual dysfunction; and about how decisions made in secret can have huge, long-term ramifications.

Drawing on never-before-seen material from multiple countries, and interviews with officers from MI6 and MI5, the KGB and CIA, Redwood lifts the lid on how espionage really works, and on an unknown and major Cold War victory.
  • Published: 15 September 2026
  • ISBN: 9780241753569
  • Imprint: Viking Non Fiction
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 464
  • RRP: $36.99
Categories:

About the author

Ben Macintyre

Ben Macintyre is the multimillion-copy bestselling author of books including Colditz, Agent Sonya, SAS: Rogue Heroes, The Spy and the Traitor, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat and A Spy Among Friends. He is a columnist and Associate Editor at The Times. Several of his books have been made into films and television series, including Operation Mincemeat, A Spy Among Friends and SAS: Rogue Heroes.
BM

Also by Ben Macintyre

The Spy and the Traitor
Colditz
SAS
The Siege
Agent Sonya
See all

Praise for Redwood

I grab each new book by Ben Macintyre and read it as fast as possible. He has a rare ability to turn history and espionage upside down and give us true, colourful stories that are at times difficult to believe. Redwood might be his best

John Grisham

There are twists, turns, desires, betrayals and unexpected outcomes…But what makes this tale so engaging is how close we feel to both the key spies and the history at the book’s heart…a triumph

Clare Mulley, Spectator

A tale of brilliant tradecraft…a moral inquiry…Terrific

Guy Walters, Independent

‘Sometimes comical, always gripping, utterly eye-opening’

Radio Times

'Ben Macintyre has a knack for finding the most fascinating storylines in history'

David Grann, author of The Wager

'Ever-brilliant'

The Bookseller

'Macintyre is one of the most gifted espionage writers around'

Annie Jacobsen, author of Nuclear War

'One of the great spy dramas of the past half-century'

ITN

'Redwood might be his best yet'

John Grisham, author of A Time to Kill

'The pre-eminent historian of the secret world . . .'

Mick Herron author of Slow Horses