A detailed account of Skripal's life leading up to these terrible events * Daily Telegraph * Based on his extensive interviews with Skripal, provide an original and often fascinating read on the games that spies played in the wake of the Cold War * Sunday Times * Fascinating account of the poisoning case . . . Other books will follow on the Skripals, but they will struggle to match the texture of Urban's research, its knowledgeable hinterland * The Times * Engrossing . . . Urban tells the story of Skripal's undercover career well, much of it previously unknown and gleaned from around 10 hours of conversations with him at his Salisbury home -- Luke Harding * Guardian *