Recommendations based on The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold Warby Ben Macintyre

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  1. A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal

    by Ben Macintyre
    The true story of a legendary British spy, who betrayed his country and family.

    Master storyteller Ben Macintyre’s most ambitious work to date brings to life the twentieth century’s greatest spy story. Kim Philby was the greatest spy in history, a brilliant and charming man who ... (Goodreads)

  2. Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies

    by Ben Macintyre
    A detailed account of British spies and their role in the secret operations of WWII.

    In his celebrated bestsellers, Agent Zigzag, and, Operation Mincemeat, Ben Macintyre told the dazzling true stories of a remarkable WWII double agent and of how the Allies employed a corpse to fool ... (Goodreads)

  3. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

    by John Carreyrou
    The rise and fall of Theranos, a fraudulent blood-testing startup, and the deceitful actions of its founder Elizabeth Holmes.

    The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end in the face ... (Goodreads)

  4. Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal

    by Ben Macintyre
    A thrilling tale of a double agent during World War II who lives a life of deception and espionage.

    Eddie Chapman was a charming criminal, a con man, and a philanderer. He was also one of the most remarkable double agents Britain has ever produced. Inside the traitor was a man of loyalty; inside ... (Goodreads)

  5. Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance

    by Alex Hutchinson
    Investigating the limits of human endurance, Hutchinson explores the science behind how our minds and bodies push past perceived boundaries.

    THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Foreword by Malcolm Gladwell Limits are an illusion: discover the revolutionary account of the science and psychology of endurance, revealing the secrets of reaching ... (Barnes & Noble)

  6. Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History

    by Erik Larson
    Story of the 1900 Galveston hurricane, and one man's desperate struggle to save his city.

    September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange ... (Goodreads)

  7. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

    by David Grann
    Exposé of a series of murders of the Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma and the FBI's investigation.

    In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, ... (Goodreads)

  8. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

    by Erik Larson
    A family's struggle to cope with the darkness of Nazi Germany, as seen through one man's courage.

    The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history. A mild-mannered professor from ... (Goodreads)

  9. Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics

    by Tim Marshall
    Geopolitical exploration of global events and the impact of geography on politics.

    In the bestselling tradition of Why Nations Fail and The Revenge of Geography , an award-winning journalist uses ten maps of crucial regions to explain the geo-political strategies of the world ... (Goodreads)

  10. Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America

    by Gilbert King
    A gripping story of racial injustice in the Jim Crow-era America and the fight for justice.

    Devil in the Grove is the winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Arguably the most important American lawyer of the twentieth century, Thurgood Marshall was on the verge of ... (Goodreads)

  11. King Leopold's Ghost

    by Adam Hochschild
    A harrowing account of the colonization of the Congo and the exploitation of its people.

    In the 1880s, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. Carrying out a ... (Goodreads)

  12. Brief Answers to the Big Questions

    by Stephen Hawking
    Stephen Hawking's final thoughts on the biggest questions in science and humanity, from the existence of God to the future of AI.

    Stephen Hawking was recognized as one of the greatest minds of our time and a figure of inspiration after defying his ALS diagnosis at age twenty-one. He is known for both his breakthroughs in ... (Goodreads)

  13. Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall

    by Anna Funder
    An exploration of life in East Germany before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

    In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell; shortly afterwards the two Germanies reunited, and East Germany ceased to exist. In a country where the headquarters of the secret police can become a museum literally ... (Goodreads)

  14. Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster

    by Adam Higginbotham
    A detailed account of the Chernobyl disaster, its causes, and aftermath. A gripping narrative of human error and heroism.

    The definitive, dramatic untold story of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, based on original reporting and new archival research. April 25, 1986, in Chernobyl, was a turning point in world ... (Goodreads)

  15. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

    by John Berendt
    A journalist's exploration of a mysterious murder in Savannah, Georgia.

    A sublime and seductive reading experience. This portrait of a beguiling Southern city was a best-seller (though a flop as a movie). ~ Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty, ... (Goodreads)

  16. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

    by Daniel James Brown
    An inspiring story of a rowing crew battling against the odds to win gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

    This novel is about the University of Washington eight-oared crew that represented the United States in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and narrowly beat out Italy and Germany to win the gold medal. The ... (Wikipedia)

  17. Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942–1943

    by Antony Beevor
    The epic story of the Battle of Stalingrad and its devastating impact on WWII.

    The Battle of Stalingrad was not only the psychological turning point of World War II: it also changed the face of modern warfare. From Antony Beevor, the internationally bestselling author of, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  18. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House

    by Michael Wolff
    An inside look at the chaos and dysfunction within the Trump administration, revealing shocking details about the president and his team.

    With extraordinary access to the West Wing, Michael Wolff reveals what happened behind-the-scenes in the first nine months of the most controversial presidency of our time in Fire and Fury: Inside ... (Goodreads)

  19. 1776

    by David McCullough
    A riveting account of the events leading up to and during the American Revolution.

    In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence - when the whole American ... (Goodreads)

  20. All the President's Men

    by Carl Bernstein
    Investigative journalism that uncovered the Watergate scandal and its aftermath.

    The full account of the Watergate scandal from the two Washington Post reporters who broke the story. This is “the work that brought down a presidency— perhaps the most influential piece of ... (Goodreads)

  21. This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor

    by Adam Kay
    A candid and darkly humorous account of a doctor's time working in the NHS.

    Welcome to the life of a junior doctor: 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you. Scribbled in secret after ... (Goodreads)

  22. Grant

    by Ron Chernow
    Biography of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, exploring his life and legacy.

    Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and inept businessman, fond of drinking to excess; or as the triumphant but brutal Union ... (Goodreads)

  23. Born to Run

    by Bruce Springsteen
    Autobiographical journey of Bruce Springsteen's life and career as a musician.

    “Writing about yourself is a funny business…But in a project like this, the writer has made one promise, to show the reader his mind. In these pages, I’ve tried to do this.” —Bruce Springsteen, from ... (Goodreads)

  24. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

    by Stephen King
    A series of personal reflections on the art of writing, and the power of story-telling.

    "Long live the King" hailed Entertainment Weekly upon the publication of Stephen King's On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is ... (Goodreads)

  25. The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire

    by William Dalrymple
    A historical account of the East India Company's rise to power and its devastating impact on India.

    The story of how the East India Company took over large swaths of Asia, and the devastating results of the corporation running a country. In August 1765, the East India Company defeated the young ... (Goodreads)

  26. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster

    by Jon Krakauer
    A gripping narrative of the 1996 expedition on Mount Everest that resulted in tragedy.

    When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. ... (Goodreads)

  27. Unnatural Causes: The Life and Many Deaths of Britain's Top Forensic Pathologist

    by Richard Shepherd
    A memoir of a forensic pathologist's career, detailing high-profile cases and the impact of death on his personal life.

    As the UK's top forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd has spent a lifetime uncovering the secrets of the dead. When death is sudden or unexplained, it falls to Shepherd to establish the cause. ... (Goodreads)

  28. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

    by Kai Bird
    Biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, exploring his life and legacy.

    American Prometheus is the first full-scale biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, "father of the atomic bomb," the brilliant, charismatic physicist who led the effort to capture the awesome fire of the ... (Goodreads)

  29. Open

    by Andre Agassi
    Autobiographical account of a tennis star's career, struggles, and personal growth.

    From Andre Agassi, one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court, a beautiful, haunting autobiography. Agassi’s incredibly rigorous ... (Goodreads)

  30. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

    by Hans Rosling
    A data-driven book that challenges common misconceptions about the world and presents a more accurate, optimistic view of global progress.

    Factfulness:, The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends— what percentage of the world’s ... (Goodreads)