The Skripal Files: Putin, Poison and the New Spy War

Description

4th March 2018, Salisbury, England. Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were enjoying a rare and peaceful Sunday spent together, completely unaware they had been poisoned with the deadly nerve agent Novichok. Hours later both were found slumped on a park bench close to death. Following their attempted murders on British soil, Russia was publically accused by the West of carrying out the attack, marking a new low for international relations between the two since the end of the Cold War. The Skripal Files is the definitive account of how Skripal's story fits into the wider context of the new spy war between Russia and the West. The Skripal Files explores the time Skripal spent as a spy in the Russian Military Intelligence, how he was turned to work as an agent by MI6, his imprisonment in Russia and his eventual release as part of a spy-swap that would bring him to Salisbury, where on that fateful day he and his daughter found themselves fighting for their lives.

Mark Urban is the Diplomatic and Defence Editor for BBC Two's Newsnight and has covered these matters in various roles for more than 20 years at the BBC. Prior to that he was Defence correspondent for The Independent newspaper for four years, covering the end of the Cold War and the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. He is also the acclaimed author of Task Force Black: The explosive true story of the SAS and the secret war in Iraq; Big Boys' Rules: The SAS and the Secret Struggle Against the IRA and Rifles: Six Years with Wellington's Legendary Sharpshooters. Mark read International Relations at the London School of Economics and served for a short time in the British Army.

Engrossing . . . Urban tells the story of Skripal's undercover career well, much of it previously unknown and gleaned from around 10 hours of conversations with him at his Salisbury home -- Luke Harding * Guardian * Fascinating account of the poisoning case . . . Other books will follow on the Skripals, but they will struggle to match the texture of Urban's research, its knowledgeable hinterland * The Times * Based on his extensive interviews with Skripal, provide an original and often fascinating read on the games that spies played in the wake of the Cold War * Sunday Times * A detailed account of Skripal's life leading up to these terrible events * Daily Telegraph * A scrupulous piece of reporting, necessary, timely and very sobering -- John Le Carre