Straight out of an Action Thriller

The Skripal Files by Mark Urban

Spy books are always thrilling; so are the movies. Over the years, I have read a number of Non-Fiction spy books and they are really insightful on how the world of spy, espionage and Deep State work. The book, The Skripal Files, deals with the widely covered 2018 attempted assassination bid on the ex-Russian double agent with Novichok nerve agent, who worked for the British MI6, Sergei Skripal. As you might remember from the news, the British had blamed the Russian Government for this assassination attempt on their former agent, Colonel Skripal.

This book, no doubt deals with the world of espionage, and how Skripal became a double agent; however, the USP of the book is the coverage of how the world of spying changed with the fall of the USSR and changing dynamics of the Western spy agencies vis-a-vis the new Russian spy agency FSB (replacing the Soviet KGB).

The book also gives an insight – although from a Western perspective – into how Vladimir Putin came to consolidate the Russian Federation post the USSR split and the Boris Yeltsin Presidency, and renewed the West vs East struggle for global dominance.

[I have reviewed a book on Vladimir Putin. The book gives some insights into his enigmatic personality.]

No doubt, Mark Urban is a very capable writer who has written the book with poetic fluidity, but his take on the subject is mostly from the perspective of the western world, where Putin is portrayed as anti-West.

Overall, read this book. Anyone who is interested in geo-politics, this book will give insight into how the Russian Federation evolved out of the USSR and how they are dealing with the world of espionage.

You can click here to buy the book.