BETRAYAL IN BERLIN

George Blake became a Russian spy when he was a prisoner of the Communist North Koreans. When North Korea crossed the border and invaded Seoul in 1950, capturing diplomats, nuns and American prisoners of war, Blake, an MI6 diplomat who had worked for the Dutch resistance in the War, made several daring bids to escape, but the starving and disease-ridden prisoners were forced to march north. Far from being shocked by the ruthless torture inflicted by the Korean commanding officer "The Tiger", Blake was more disappointed by the lack of heroism of his American fellow-prisoners. A fluent linguist who had graduated in Russian, he secretly offered his services to the Russian government. Back in England, Blake joined MI6's Section Y at 2 Carlton Gardens, marrying MI6 secretary Gillian Allen, and was posted to Berlin where the CIA, outclassed by the KGB on every front, had initiated the project of constructing a tunnel to tap the Russian lines communication. The Russians allowed it to continue in order not to compromise their source. By 1954 Kim Philby's usefulness had run its course and Blake was ideally placed to replace him. When he was finally caught and sentenced to 42 years, Blake's predilection for daring escapes served him one last time and the friends who sprung him from Wormwood Scrubs drove him to East Germany in a secret compartment of their camper van. Thrilling from start to finish. 530pp, paperback, bibliography, photos.