Traitors
True tales of treason that changed the world
Published on 31. July 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-1-5294-4001-0 (ISBN)
Description
'If I had to choose between betraying my friend and betraying my country, I hope I should have the courage to betray my country.' E. M. FORSTER
People have betrayed their country, or their friends, for all kinds of different reasons - conscience, conviction, love, as well as pride, vengeance and greed. The stories in Traitors range from the faith-inspired terrorism of Guy Fawkes to the non-violent White Rose gang of students who defied Hitler; from patriotic rebels such as Roger Casement to ambivalent ideologues such as Lord Haw-Haw and the Cambridge spy Kim Philby; and from femmes fatales such as Mata Hari to unwitting victims such as Lady Jane Grey.
Those found guilty of treason have usually faced the same penalty: death. But as these thoroughly researched and grippingly told tales of treachery show, one man's traitor may sometimes be another man's hero . . .
People have betrayed their country, or their friends, for all kinds of different reasons - conscience, conviction, love, as well as pride, vengeance and greed. The stories in Traitors range from the faith-inspired terrorism of Guy Fawkes to the non-violent White Rose gang of students who defied Hitler; from patriotic rebels such as Roger Casement to ambivalent ideologues such as Lord Haw-Haw and the Cambridge spy Kim Philby; and from femmes fatales such as Mata Hari to unwitting victims such as Lady Jane Grey.
Those found guilty of treason have usually faced the same penalty: death. But as these thoroughly researched and grippingly told tales of treachery show, one man's traitor may sometimes be another man's hero . . .
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
216 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5294-4001-0 (9781529440010)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Ian Crofton, formerly editor-in-chief of The Guinness Encyclopedia, has written a number of works of popular narrative history, from Great Escapes and A Curious History of Food and Drink to The Little Book of Big History and World History: 50 Events You Really Need to Know. The last two bestsellers have been translated into many languages. Crofton has also explored the interplay of landscape, history and nature in more personal books such as Walking the Border: A Journey between Scotland and England ('Excellent', The Guardian), Fringed with Mud and Pearls: An English Island Odyssey (selected by The Telegraph as one of their top twenty travel books of 2021) and, most recently, Upland: A Journey through Time and the Hills ('A beautifully written celebration of a lifelong passion', Stephen Venables, author and mountaineer).