Betrayal in Berlin audiobook

Anyone who is at all interested in this period of history, especially as it relates to Cold War espionage, should pick this up and read it. Don't be put off by the number of pages, at least 100 of them are dedicated to notes, bibliography and a list of interviewees and dates.I have a whole three shelves dedicated to espionage and spies, a topic I became heavily interested in when my late teens, when there was still a kind of romance about the whole being a spy thing - there was a lot of effort and imagination put into many of the activities undertaken, and reading back on these, one wonders how any of they got away with what they did - very "boys' own adventures" .There is a hell of a lot of information being presented: on the agencies, their personnel, political history, and a lot of mundane stuff leading up to the building of the Berlin Tunnel.. Even afterwards, the lives of those involved peaked and waned, Blake himself drifts in and out of focus, and it is not until events reach their apogee with Blake's arrest and incarceration, that the political merry-go-round starts up again and we are all carried along.Vogel's easy manner of disseminating this plethora of information makes for an thrilling and captivating story - the trouble is, this is not fiction but fact!Heartily recommended .... "mischief, thou art afoot ..."Side note: my kindle version did not have the maps or photos - which I would have loved to have seen - but this does not detract from the reading.

Wow. This is a real life story of Cold War espionage that reads like a fast paced spy novel, but as they say “truth is stranger than fiction” and in this case even more entertaining. I was not aware of the history of this tunnel operation nor of the double agent George Blake ( I had heard of Philby and other famous spy’s in Britain but not Blake.) So this read like a novel to me as I truly didn’t know what was going to happen. Author Vogel is a talented reporter and has an easy going writing style. Don’t be daunted by the size of the book, there is a lengthy section with footnotes and other support info so I was surprised when I turned the page and saw the word Epilogue, it reads that fast. The true life characters in this drama are all very interesting and well fleshed out and we get a lot of dialogue verified by diaries and the players themselves. Warning; if like me you don’t know how the story ends, do not look at more than 1-2 pages of the photographs featured in the center of the book. You might glance at the first few to see what they looked like, but if you look them all over, they contain spoilers. You’ll know from the cover (and other reviews) that it’s about the most ambitious intelligence gathering operation ever undertaken in modern times. If I had a critique at all it would be that it gets a bit dry and technical about the construction project, but without that, you don’t get to appreciate the sheer audacity and difficulty of the plan. You also know it’s about a double agent. Despite his betrayals which cost people their lives, he is actually a somewhat likable person and I found myself confused as to whether I was rooting for or against him at certain stages in the book. (If you ever watched the recent TV series “The Americans” you’ll understand what I mean, I was rooting for the Russian spies when I should have been cheering on the FBI!) This is a great book about a fascinating era made even more interesting to me after I visited Berlin and toured many of the sights featured. OK, I’ve written enough, a review almost as long as the book, so I think you can tell I highly recommend it it any history buff interested in WWWII and its aftermath the Cold War. Or if you like spy novels, here’s a true story you will like even more.

The story of the Berlin Tunnel (as well as the entire life and career of George Blake, really) is one of those Cold War spy stories that one would undoubtedly deride as entirely too farfetched were one to encounter them within a work of fiction rather than in a history book. This gripping, detailed account gives intriguing insights into both the inner workings of this audacious espionage project as well as the life of one of Britain's most infamous spies.

The nerd in me loves cold war espionage history. If you like that kind of thing, you may find this book very interesting.

Shortly after returning from a recent trip to Berlin, I attended a chamber music concert in Chicago and noticed that a man sitting a couple of seats from me was reading this book. During a break in the performance, I asked him about it and he enthusiastically recommended that I read it.I’m very glad that he did. Betrayal in Berlin tells an intriguing, almost unbelievable, story about goings-on in Berlin after the end of the Second World War but before the erection of the Berlin Wall, and the people behind those goings-on. Although the cast of characters is large, and weave in and out of the book, Vogel’s writing is clear and the story is clearly focused upon the main character, George Blake. I often let the title of a book create in me a preconception of what the book is going to be about, and I thought that the storyline of this book would pretty much end upon occurrence of the “betrayal” of the existence of the tunnel built by the Americans and the British from the American sector of Berlin to the Russian sector. (No spoiler here since the tunnel project is referenced on the cover of the book.). But the betrayal isn’t really the focus of the book; it is the project itself, and the personalities on all sides of the Berlin confrontation, whether German, British, American, Russian, French, etc., around which the book revolves.Vogel’s research is astonishing, including many first-hand interviews with the major individuals involved (including George Blake himself, who is still alive at 97). There don’t seem to be any areas where Vogel was unable to come up with a source to help complete the picture he was painting. (I found it particularly interesting that a number of the players involved eventually looked back at the whole Berlin situation as something like a sort of game they were playing.)Although Betrayal in Berlin is a fairly long book (about 450 pages in the print edition), I thought that it moved along at a good pace, although someone who may not be as interested in the subject matter might feel bogged down by some of the detail included in the book.Berlin is a fascinating city, and anyone who wants to know more about its post-war history, and in particular its role in the early stages of the Cold War, will enjoy Betrayal in Berlin.

“Betrayal In Berlin” (Vogel, 2019) is a fascinating and factual analysis of the most daring espionage operation of the Cold War - the Berlin Tunnel of the mid-1950s dubbed “Operation Gold”. This was an ambitious, costly, and challenging feat of engineering and security jointly executed primarily (but not exclusively) by America’s CIA and Britain’s SIS intelligence organizations. The project involved the construction of a secret 450 meter tunnel initiated from an American military installation in Rudow (West Berlin). It crossed the sector border into Altglienicke (East Berlin) to tap phone lines, allowing the monitoring, recording, and analysis of Soviet army and KGB phone and telegraph communications. Due to infiltration of the SIS by KGB operative George Blake, the project was compromised well before initial construction. Despite foreknowledge of the tunnel, the KGB allowed it to operate for over eleven months in order to protect Blake’s identity and support his activities as their SIS mole. The CIA and SIS underestimated the penetration of their security by the KGB. Similarly, the KGB vastly underestimated the tsunami of intelligence generated for the western Allies through their tunnel operation. The KGB erroneously concluded that the intelligence gathered by Blake was of greater value and volume than that gathered by the Allied tunnel operation. In fact, both espionage operations netted significant volumes of important intelligence for the West and the East. This book examines the tunnel project from the perspective of the various agencies and individuals involved on both sides by detailing the chronology of their actions, their motivations, and final results. It’s a captivating and insightful look into the multifaceted aspects of espionage in the Cold War. I highly recommend this book.

Betrayal in Berlin is a fantastic book on Cold War history -- a bit long at 500+ pages, but an incredible story spanning much of the Cold War (beginning in 1950 Korea and culminating in Moscow). It involves two separate yet interconnected stories, the first being the lives of George Blake -- a spy for the SIS (M16) who defected to the KGB and became a double agent and Bill Harvey, FBI agent who cracked the case on the infamous English traitor Kim Philby, and later as West Berlin CIA station chief masterminded the operation to construct the Berlin Tunnel -- literally a 1,500 foot (height of the Empire State building) tunnel running across East German lines to wiretap KGB and Soviet communications. It's a captivating read -- given its length I could easily see this as being the basis for a good television series. I'm also midway through a biography of Bill Harvey, ( Flawed Patriot: The Rise and Fall of CIA Legend Bill Harvey ), as colorful a character as one would fine in any John Le Carre novel. Very comical both in appearance and behavior, yet at the same time really one of the most gifted and accomplished officers in early CIA history.Funny, in all the excitement of the past year I had completely missed the obituary notice marking George Blake's passing, at 98, in late December (12/26/20).

This book reads like a novel, but it's all true, and every chapter is interesting in its own right. The author brings the characters, the culture, the time, and the situation to life in crisp detail.

This held my attention the whole way, especially as truth being stranger than fiction. Just fascinating, especially the people involved as they come to life.

Excellent and intriguing story of post-World War II Berlin and the Cold War Spy-v-Spy challenges. Highly recommended!

Excellent history of the CIA's tunneling into East Berlin to tap Soviet communication lines in the 1950s. It also tells the story of British citizen and Soviet agent George Blake from the time of his imprisonment in Korea during the early '50s when he turned for ideological reasons to become a spy against the West. He later told the Soviets about the tunnel before it was even constructed, and the book carries his story through to his capture and escape from a British prison and defection to Russia. Recommended for those interested in the exploits of the intelligence agencies and their most important personalities here and abroad during the height of the Cold War.

I had been waiting for a book like this! I had found so many brief references to the tunnel under Berlin in other books about the Cold War, and George Blake, the spy who betrayed it, was sometimes mentioned in the same breath as the Cambridge spies. But I had never been able to find a good history of the tunnel. This book fills that gap, and with plenty of detail ! I had never realized what a technologically challenging undertaking it had been, and how the British and Americans had cooperated for the logistics of building the tunnel, stocking it with top-notch electronics, and then translating the intercepted messages. From the original idea (inspired by the success of a much smaller tunnel in Vienna), to the painstaking research as to the best spot to dig the tunnel (aided by intel from agents in the East German telephone service), to the training of the personnel, and then the daily flights with the transcribed messages to London. Fascinating stuff! For the one year of its operation the tunnel yielded insight into the thoughts, movements and daily routine of the East German and Soviet military. The book also clarifies that although the Russians knew about the tunnel right from the get-go (thanks to George Blake), they couldn't afford to do anything about it without jeopardizing him. So they allowed the information to flow unchecked, and the book disagrees with the claim that the Russians used it as a misinformation channel - there were simply too many people using the lines to make that possible.The other focus of the book is on George Blake, now in his nineties and still alive in Moscow. Originally raised in Holland, he spent time with relatives in Egypt. Active in the Dutch resistance as a teenager, he then followed his family to England and accepted a job in the SIS. in the 1950s he was posted in Korea, where he was captured and kept for several years. It was during this time, he claims, that he was converted to communism and offered to spy for the Soviets. And so he started, right after his release and triumphant return to the UK. This went on for years, until a Soviet defector provided the information that led to his arrest. And here a new cast of characters pops up : an unstable Irishman, a burglar, two pacifists active in the antinuclear movement. Together they take pity on George Blake because of his unprecedented prison sentence of 42 years in prison, and they hatch a scheme to spring him out of Wormwood Scrubs. Imagine the consternation, not just among the British who lost a prize prisoner, but also among the Soviets, who knew very well that they were not the ones behind this daredevil scheme. Eventually George Blake is smuggled into East Germany, hidden behind a panel in a camping van, and from then on he simply walks up to a military post and announces who he is. From there he's spirited away to Moscow, where he settled down for the second part of his life, including a job at the same think tank where Donald MacLean worked, a new wife and a new family. And according to the book's author, he is still a committed communist, albeit disenchanted with the way the Soviet experiment turned out. A mysterious figure, and one of the last living links to the Cold War....

Well this book about Berlin started out in Korea and I couldn’t make the connection. I soon did. Although non-fiction this book read like a novel. I was captivated and it was very hard to put down so I lost some sleep. It must have taken an incredible amount of research to pull this together and that is borne out by the sources bibliography. The impact that one spy had over such a long period of time is mind boggling. I don’t recall hearing about George Blake. He was never sensationalized like Kim Philby so I imagine that is why. In any event the author did a great job of telling his tale. His writing was objective and balanced and I found myself pulling for Blake and despising him. The book is a long read but it’s well worth it if you’re interested in espionage, both Berlins or German history. Enjoy.

i wish i could say something.i won the book and they still arent' honoring mewith a copy!

Betrayal in Berlin: The True Story of the Cold War's Most Audacious Espionage Operation was a fascinating inside look at one of the most daring espionage tunnels to be built in Berlin when events after the Second World War changed politics in the world forever. With communism taking hold in the east, tensions mounted and the west needed some information to guide their movements during some very tense situations, but little information was coming out of Russia. Berlin became a fertile ground for spies and the development of espionage networks and the recruitment of thousands began. I found this book to be thoughtful and insightful and enjoyed the many hours of research that went into every aspect of it. First of all, if you are looking for a book about George Blake, this is not the book for you, and I could recommend other books for you to read instead. The reason I was so interested in this book is that I wanted the step by step detailing on the Berlin tunnel and what went wrong, and that is exactly what I got. I was fascinated by the descriptions of the details that went into building it and the coordination of effort that it took from the architects to the engineers to the translators. I wanted the nitty-gritty of the operation and this was it. However, I am a history teacher and very familiar with politics during this time period as well as the various players so I do think that helped a lot.Let's face it, the Cold War was a very stressful time for everyone involved, but gosh, there are a lot of interesting stories that are coming out of this time period, and so much has come to light in recent years. Spies, gadgets and devices used, codes, operations, and so much more have been revealed to the public as secret documents have been made available and researchers are tapping into these resources to shed light on some interesting moments in time. And while George Blake certainly played a vital role in the destruction of the Berlin Tunnel, the Americans and the British were still able to gain valuable information from its use. The author used his research and writing skills to explain a complicated story that was interesting, and although I knew the outcomes of some of the Russian spies, I still held my breath as I read about their demises. I especially like how the author just lays things out for you and lets you come to your own conclusions, but reminds you time and time again that these men spend their lives deceiving others and are perhaps not so trustworthy and to take their accounts with a grain of salt, so to speak. It's a very subtle warning to be careful when you read interviews with Blake, Philby, and some of the others. Betrayal in Berlin was less a story about George Blake than it was a comprehensive account of an espionage project doomed from the very beginning, but still managed to provide some good information to the West despite what happened. Some interesting information provided on some very fascinating people during this time period: Eisenhower, Blake, Dulles, and hundreds of others are mentioned. The author is quite skilled at explaining the different story lines of the all the people involved and bringing it all back together so it makes sense. Even if you have limited knowledge of this time period, you would enjoy this book as the author explains things very well, but you do have to be patient. There is a lot of stuff to go through and a lot of things that went into this operation. I am definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.

Absolutely gripping! I couldn’t put this book down! It’s a fast read and a terrific view into a real world of spy-counterspy work. Much of the history and embassy lifestyle that Vogel discusses is familiar ground for me, as are many of the names (Profumo, Philby, Popov, Dulles, Eden, etc.), but I was not aware of this tunnel caper. Perhaps some of his ability to portray that perspective comes from being a “FS brat” - in this case, an “agency brat.” It is a special way of looking at the world. One intriguing description is of how Blake’s decision could have been prompted in part by his feeling of statelessness. As a child of a Turkish Jew and a Dutch Reformed mother, raised part of his young adulthood in Egypt, spending the years immediately prior to the war in Holland, having British citizenship because his father received it after honorable service in WWI, but never living there until the end of WWII, Blake felt allegiance to none of these nations. He spoke French, Dutch, Russian, English, and German fluently, in addition to other languages less well. His strongest bond seemed to be with the status his professionalism and success as a double-agent gave him. He seemed proud to think that the KGB found his information so valuable that they were not willing to blow the secret of the tunnel. His experience as a POW in Korea gave him an opportunity to see both the brutality of the N. Korean structure and the mindless destruction of the American response. Vogel doesn’t endorse this claim, but does repeat it several times in the book. Note: they dug the tunnel in 1955 and it was “discovered” in 1956, but those eleven months gave them an incredibly rich flood of intelligence that answered questions coming out of early Cold War surprises. Why didn’t we know that the Soviets would develop the bomb so fast? Why didn’t we know China would intervene to support North Korea. Eisenhower wanted information and the tunnel provided it! Speaking as someone whose whole life has centered around keeping secrets, I found Blake’s actions repugnant. But I still consider this book a valuable read for those who want the full picture of Allied and Soviet efforts to build their relationship in the immediate post-war world.

A lengthy book (easily read) that explores the personalities and factions involved in the decisions made regarding phone tapping the land lines used among East Berlin authorities, the Soviet apparat and the KGB. Many practical difficulties (example: water table was supposed to be 32 feet down, but a perched water table on impervious clay meant that the tunnel had to be built at 16 feet down, allowing only 10 feet of soil above). The tunnel, some 450 metres long, was dug from a specially built warehouse in West Berlin to a point in East Berlin where the significant phone cables could be accessed (actually under the Schonefelder Chaussee, an East Berlin road carrying significant traffic). The many difficulties and their resolution are described in some detail (not boringly!!). Tunnel was finished, with lines taps in place (an exceedingly delicate operation), Feb 1955, and operated for 11 months.Steve has done an incredible job of sorting out a truely vast amount of detail, and presenting it as a chronological, logically coherent anecdote. The quite detailed description of the personalities and conflicts involved makes for a rivetting tale. The last 100 or so pages describe Blake's escape from Wormwood Scrubs (he had a sentence of 42 years), and his subsequent life in Moscow, written rather in the manner of a spy thriller. The political situations of the time (eg the Kennedy approved bay of pigs, the intense concern in US circles about the possibility of a sudden attack from the Soviets) and actors such as Eisenhower, Robert Kennedy, J Edgar Hoover are described in their natural context.The point of the title is that George Blake, the son of a Dutch mother and Egyptian Jewish father, had decided that the capitalist style of government was too oppressive on the poor, and, having first become an SIS agent, became a KGB spy to help the socialist cause. His conversion was influenced by the experiences had while captured by North Korea in the Korean war, and his experience of fleeing the Nazis in the second World War. Blake gained some knowledge of the tunnel operation (even at the proposal stage) from his SIS activities, and duly passed this on to the KGB. The Soviet agency decided that revealing the tunnel would give Blake away, that he was too important, and kept the information to themselves till a few months into 1956.