The Second World War had been won, but relationships between the Western allies and the Soviet Union were becoming increasingly strained, as the nuclear arms race made world peace precarious. It was vital that Britain knew the Soviets' intentions and military capabilities, both offensive and defensive. As a Military Attache in Sofia, and Commandant of an Intelligence Centre in the Balkans, it was SIS officer Colonel John Sanderson's job to find out. Sanderson handled agents who operated secretly behind the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War and organised hidden arms depots for stay-behind agents in case of a Red Army invasion. In John Sanderson's biography we get the detailed inside story of the Berlin Air Lift, the Suez Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. We see the results of Philby and Blake's treachery and the effects which the courageous actions of the two 'Olegs', the Russian Colonels Penkovsky and Gordievsky, had on the international politics of Khrushchev, Kennedy, Gorbachev, Thatcher and Reagan - and the consequences their decisions had for the course of world history. AUTHOR: A graduate of London and Brunel universities, MYLES SANDERSON taught Design Technology in Australia and the UK. Myles spent his childhood in Turkey, Sudan, Egypt, Cyprus, Communist Bulgaria, France, Germany and Holland, where his father was posted in diplomatic, intelligence or military roles. 32 b/w images

A graduate of London and Brunel universities, MYLES SANDERSON taught Design Technology in Australia and the UK. Myles spent his childhood in Turkey, Sudan, Egypt, Cyprus, Communist Bulgaria, France, Germany and Holland, where his father was posted in diplomatic, intelligence or military roles. Since 2006 he has lived in Paris, researching and writing history. Myles has written articles for National Trust Australia magazine, broadcast in French on Paris radio, and presented a 'France 2' TV news report on an Australian Imperial Force relative killed in 1917\. Recently, Myles gave a talk in the Arras caves on the New Zealand Tunnelling Company to the New Zealand ambassador, Military Attache and other service personnel. Myles is a qualified SCUBA wreck diver.