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The Defector: The Untold Story of the KGB Agent who Exposed the CIA and Saved MI5
Author(s): Richard Kerbaj (Author)
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
- Publication Date: April 28, 2026
- Language: English
- Print length: 368 pages
- ISBN-10: 1443477818
- ISBN-13: 9781443477819
Book Description
The Defector is the untold story of how the defection of KGB agent Oleg Lyalin led to the expulsion of more than a hundred Soviet spies from Britain.
At the heart of Lyalin’s story is a narrative entwined with lies, disinformation, Kremlin deception campaigns, paranoia, intelligence failures by the CIA and MI5, and a tangled love life.
Unravelling amidst a Soviet mission to plant fake Kremlin ‘defectors’ within British and American intelligence agencies, this story reveals how the secrets Lyalin divulged, resulted in one of the most dramatic and pivotal moments in the Cold War.
Lyalin led MI5 to rethink its relationship with the CIA and, ultimately, helped destroy the reputation of the US agency’s head of counterintelligence, James Jesus Angleton.
Drawing on newly declassified intelligence files, dozens of interviews with spymasters, and told in full here for the first time by one of Britain’s leading commentators on national security, this story reveals how during the darkest moments of the Cold War one of the West’s greatest achievements transpired as a result of MI5’s break with the CIA.
The disclosure of the inside story of this historic event also comes at a time when there is a renewed tension in the relationship between transatlantic spy services – from the intelligence they share or hold back, to the way they respond to their political masters and stand up to threats from Russia.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“An absolutely thrilling read, based on deep research, which brings this MI5 asset’s importance to life” — Gordon Corera, co-host of The Rest is Classified
“The Defector reads like le Carré but uncovers important truths that are being played out in Putin’s Russia today.” — –Robert Verkaik, bestselling author of The Traitor of Colditz
“Dynamic and vivid…. Kerbaj skillfully makes major figures of the Cold War cloak-and-dagger operations come to life.” — Dr. Filip Kovacevic, author of KGB Literati: Spy Fiction and State Security in the Soviet Union
“Highly entertaining…certainly the stuff of thrillers.” — Sydney Morning Herald
“One of the most sensational episodes of the Cold War.” — Sunday Times (London)
“Reads like a spy novel.” — Express
“A thrill to read.” — The Scotsman
“Compelling.” — Evening Standard (London)
“Explosive.” — Mail on Sunday
“Extraordinary book.” — Hugo Rifkind, Timesradio
“This magnificent book reads like a thriller.” — The Australian
About the Author
RICHARD KERBAJ is a BAFTA-winning and twice Emmy-nominated filmmaker and writer who has specialized in investigating crime and national security–related stories for more than fifteen years. He has written extensively about the impact that counterterrorism and counterespionage have had on intelligence agencies, including MI5, MI6, GCHQ and the CIA, in their battle against ISIS and al-Qaeda, Russia’s widespread disinformation campaigns, and China’s industrialized thefts of Western intellectual property. He lives in London.
