An Ordinary Guy, an Unknown Spy cover art

An Ordinary Guy, an Unknown Spy

How to Start, Be Smart and End Your Career in MI6

Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

An Ordinary Guy, an Unknown Spy

By: Andrew Gilbrook
Narrated by: Steve Davison Smith
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £13.88

Buy Now for £13.88

About this listen

The United Kingdom. A story based on real events.

Few people are deemed smart enough to be selected and trained as a spy for Her Majesty’s Government, fewer qualify. The author is one such man, who, uniquely, was chosen at the age of 16, the only person still to pass selection without an education through the university system.

Andy describes his unbelievable life, from the beginning, as a child, playing in the woods and fields around his home in Maple Cross, Hertfordshire, learning the skills he had no idea he would need in his future spy world, tracking, moving silently and invisibly, undetected.

His career ended, leaving him suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, after facing interrogation, torture, and being stood in front of a firing squad in war-torn Angola, he escaped by stealing a small aircraft piloting, alone and injured, 700 miles to safety with only four hours unqualified flying experience. He faced the rest of his life knowing a dark secret had to be kept from everyone he knew.

Only in 2012, when he was informed his ex-MI6 secretary had died from cancer, close to breaking down mentally, did he finally decide to reveal his secret life to his friends and family to release the buried secrets from his struggling sanity. A risky choice, one he did not take lightly, but he knew deep inside it was the only way forward for his peace of mind.

Carefully written to avoid revealing any government secrets, this is his personal story, thrilling, surprising, and an eye-opener into the life of an ordinary guy who truly was an unknown spy.

©2019 Andrew Gilbrook (P)2021 Andrew Gilbrook
Freedom & Security Politics & Government
All stars
Most relevant
Was interesting but the chapters could have been combined
Whether true or not will never be known. Saying that was thought provoking

A lot of chapters

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Love it, An amazing true story. Who would ha e known the life of a spy. Amazingly frank and honest

An amazing true story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What a fantastic book. A very frank and honest account of life as an Mi6 operative.
Great to hear the background to Andy and how he came to be the Unknown Spy.
A truly great book and can’t wait to listen to rest of Andy’s writings.

Absolutely Gripping

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

An interesting story

Not a lot of specifics and I can’t say I would recommend it

A lot missing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.