130,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿 

IT'S FINALLY HERE! HAPPY ACOTAR 6 RELEASE DAY! ✨

The Skripal Files

Putin, Poison and the New Spy War
3.87 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 488 ratings, 50 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
On 4 March 2018 in Salisbury, England, Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy turned British agent, and his daughter are found poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok. This incident sparks an international crisis when Britain publicly accuses Russia of the attack. The Skripal Files draws on extensive interviews with Skripal himself before the poisoning to reveal his transformation from a loyal Russian intelligence officer to a MI6 agent, his imprisonment in Siberia, and the reasons leading up to the assassination attempt. The narrative also covers the tragic death of Dawn Sturgess, an innocent victim linked to the attack, elevating the case to a murder investigation.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2799
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in modern espionage, true crime, and international political thrillers, especially those keen on detailed investigative journalism and Cold War intelligence history.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

From the heart of the cold war to the current hostilities between Russia and the West, this is the definitive account of the events that led to the Skripal poisoning

From the heart of the cold war to the current hostilities between Russia and the West, this is the definitive account of the events that led to the Skripal poisoning

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A scrupulous piece of reporting, necessary, timely and very sobering — John Le Carré

A Sunday Times Best Book of 2018

Agent. Prisoner. Target. Who is Sergei Skripal?

4 March 2018, Salisbury, England. A man and his daughter are found slumped on a bench, poisoned by the deadly nerve agent Novichok. He was a Russian national that became a MI6 spy.

Russia are publicly accused of carrying out the attack by the British government, sparking a diplomatic crisis between Russia and the West.

Then two innocent people find a discarded perfume bottle used in the attack and one of them, Dawn Sturgess, tragically dies. It is now a murder investigation. How exactly did we get here?

Based on interviews with Sergei before his poisoning, Mark Urban explains the most shocking espionage incident in a decade. Describing precisely how an otherwise loyal Russian intelligence officer was turned into an agent by MI6, how Skripal was betrayed so that he found himself in a Siberian prison, and why, years later, was he was targeted for assassination.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised as a 'scrupulous piece of reporting, necessary, timely and very sobering' by John Le Carré, this book offers a detailed and engrossing account of the Skripal poisoning. The Times notes its unparalleled research depth, while the Guardian highlights Urban's revealing insights from extensive conversations with Skripal. The Sunday Times commends its original take on post-Cold War espionage, and the Daily Telegraph recognises its thorough detail leading up to these events.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781529006926

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 19 September 2019

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Pan Books

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 23.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 19.0mm

Weight: 254g

Pages: 352

About the Author

Mark Urban is a broadcaster and historian. Prior to working for the BBC he was defence correspondent for the Independent for four years, covering the end of the Cold War and the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. He is also the acclaimed author of Task Force Black: The explosive true story of the SAS and the secret war in Iraq; Big Boys' Rules: The SAS and the secret struggle against the IRA and Rifles: Six years with Wellington's legendary sharpshooters. Mark read international relations at the London School of Economics and served for a short time in the British army.

Also by Mark Urban

View all
  • Red Devils
    A gripping, widely-praised, authorised history of the Parachute Regiment in World War Two. In this gripping, authorised account, bestselling historian Mark Urban tells the story of the wartime creation and development of Britain's elite airborne infantry—who ranged from circus performers to solicitors, policemen to gravediggers, Christians and Jews to communists. Through the fates of six men—including recently widowed Geoffrey Pine-Coffin,...
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • On Sale
    16% off
    Tank
    An authoritative history of the tank and the remarkable individuals who designed them and fought in them, from a former soldier and best-selling historian. Tanks are the ultimate embodiment of industrial age warfare. In the popular imagination, they represent both a terrifying beast of destruction and a potent symbol of liberation. The technology behind these war machines has evolved relentlessly,...
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Tank War
    From the evacuation of France in 1940 to the final dash to Hamburg in 1945, the 5th Royal Tank Regiment were on the front line throughout the Second World War. Theirs was a war that saw them serve in Africa as part of the Desert Rats, before returning to Europe for the Normandy landings. Wherever they went, the notoriety of...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Fusiliers
    From Lexington Green in 1775 to Yorktown in 1781, one regiment marched thousands of miles and fought a dozen battles to uphold British rule in America: the Royal Welch Fusiliers. With a wealth of previously unused primary accounts, Mark Urban reveals the inner life of the regiment—and, through it, of the British army as a whole—as it fought one of...
    Paperback
    $3699
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Tank
    An authoritative history of the tank and the remarkable individuals who designed them and fought in them, from a former soldier and best-selling historian. Punchy. Trenchant. Heavyweight. Mark Urban's Tank blows the doors off, just as you'd expect from such an accomplished author. Take cover! – Damien Lewis, author of SAS Great Escapes Tanks are the ultimate embodiment of industrial...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Big Boys' Rules
    In this book, defence specialist and war correspondent Mark Urban explores covert operations against the IRA from the mid-1970s to the Loughgall shooting in 1987. Drawing on interviews with people who have served at the heart of intelligence and special operations in Ulster, as well as with members of paramilitary groups, Big Boys' Rules examines the roles of the army,...
    Paperback
    $3699
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

More from Crime & Thriller

View all
  • New Release
    King’s Ransom
    Five innocent hostages. Five private investigators. A fiendish ransom game. Has Detective Sam Speedman met his match? A fast and deadly Matthew Reilly thriller. A DARING ABDUCTION The richest man in the world has been kidnapped. Along with four of his children. THE DEADLY CHALLENGE The kidnapper's demand: the five best private detectives in America must come to the missing...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The French Illusion
    Bestselling author John Grisham delivers a new gripping, suspenseful page-turner about aParis honeymoon gone horribly wrong - and the nightmare that follows. After Paul and Chelsea Tanner's fairytale wedding, their future is full of promise. But their honeymoon to Paris takes a dark, shocking turn when they are kidnapped while on a day trip to the French countryside. Who would...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • King’s Ransom
    New Release
    King’s Ransom
    Five innocent hostages. Five private investigators. A fiendish ransom game. Has Detective Sam Speedman met his match? A fast and deadly Matthew Reilly thriller. A DARING ABDUCTION The richest man in the world has been kidnapped. Along with four of his children. THE DEADLY CHALLENGE The kidnapper's demand: the five best private detectives in America must come to the missing...
    Hardback
    $4499
    Elsewhere:
    $4999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Chain Reaction
    Jack Reacher, \"the coolest continuing series character\" (Stephen King), returns in a brand new, pulse-pounding read from Lee and Andrew Child. The world’s bestselling hero is back in a brand new, high-octane adventure! ‘She knew that finding Reacher would not be easy . . .’ Washington DC. General Susan Turner needs help from the only guy she knows will get...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Family Cross
    In the gripping new thriller in James Patterson's globally bestselling series, Alex Cross faces his most personal case yet as a ruthless conspiracy targets Washington's most vulnerable... and his own family. Discover the latest gripping thriller in the globally bestselling Alex Cross series - now the inspiration for the original series CROSS on Prime Video starring Aldis Hodge as Alex...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Heights
    In The Heights by #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sir Ian Rankin, murder comes to London's most exclusive high-rise - and every resident is a suspect... MURDER COMES TO LONDON'S MOST LUXURIOUS HIGH-RISE: AND EVERY RESIDENT IS A SUSPECT. The Heights: a gleaming, high-end high-rise looming over Hyde Park. Newly built from steel and smoked glass, it is a billionaire's playground offering sumptuous suites...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Death Row
    With all hope of an appeal fading away, the fate of a condemned murderess takes a shocking turn in a breathtaking short story from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Housemaid! A thrilling novella from #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden! Death is coming for her… unless she finds the truth first. Talia Kemper is on death row for murdering...
    Paperback
    $2299
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Signed Copy
    On Sale
    19% off
    Dying Days
    Award-winning writer delivers a pulse-pounding espionage thriller. Missing soldiers, MI6 secrets and European partisans collide in a deadly game where the lines between lies and reality are fast disintegrating. In the dying days of the Second World War, a new conflict is about to ignite. May, 1945: After fighting to liberate Europe from the Nazis, Tito's Yugoslav Army and Allied...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    19% off
    New Release
    Fury In Death: An Eve Dallas thriller (In Death 63)
    In the new crime thriller from the bestselling author, Lt. Eve Dallas journeys into the darkness where murder is born… NYSPD homicide detective Eve Dallas has seen a lot in her time but even she is shocked by the savagery of a beating which leaves a wealthy biotech executive dead in his home office. The victim’s corpse is so mangled...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    19% off
    New Release
    Tom Clancy Pressure Depth
    Jack Ryan Jr leads a team of divers in a race to beat the Chinese Navy to a weapon of terrible destructive power in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series. Jack Ryan Jr. is on Guam to work on a project for Hendley Associates. It's a perfectly ordinary insurance matter, but trouble finds the Ryans...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Country Road Murders
    On Sale
    10% off
    New Release
    The Country Road Murders
    From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a pulse-pounding thriller about justice, vengeance and the roads that lead us home. No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades — LEE CHILD Cross Rivers is the kind of small town where everyone knows your name – and your secrets. Silas Tucker...
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    15% off
    Every Lake
    Scary stories are fun... until your life becomes one. When Alice was fifteen, her father killed Mia Heywood in their lakefront cottage before vanishing into the trees. At least that's what the locals think happened. Over a decade later, Alice has lost her job as a journalist, she's going through an expensive divorce and she desperately needs to sell the...
    Paperback
    $2800
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.