Ben Macintyre

Writing

Ben Macintyre

Born 1963-12-25 · Oxford, England

Ben Macintyre is a British author, historian, reviewer and columnist for The Times newspaper. His columns range from current affairs to historical controversies

Acting credits

Operation Mincemeat poster
7.9

Documentary detailing the successful Operation Mincemeat in 1943, which led to the Allies successfully invading Sicily and the war turning in their favour.

Operation Mincemeat

2010

The Real Spies Among Friends poster
8.0

Documentary telling the real story of the Cambridge Spies - subject of the drama series A Spy Among Friends.

The Real Spies Among Friends

2022

No artwork available
4.5

Author Ben Macintyre explores the truth behind one of the most famous double agents in modern history - Harold Kim Philby. He argues that Philby has become a caricature of the gentleman spy, obscuring the fact that Philby was a ruthless killer, who betrayed everyone around him. The key to Philby's success and his survival, Macintyre explains, lay in his friendship with a man that history has largely forgotten - Nicholas Elliott. Elliott was Philby's colleague in MI6 who befriended him, defended him, and unwittingly supplied him with secrets until he discovered the truth. This is the remarkable tale of two friends and two spies, each working on opposite sides in the Cold War.

Kim Philby: His Most Intimate Betrayal

2014

Double Cross: The True Story of the D-day Spies poster
6.7

The story of D-Day has been told from the point of view of the soldiers who fought in it, the tacticians who planned it and the generals who led it. But that epic event in world history has never been told before through the perspective of the strange handful of spies who made it possible. D-Day was a great victory of arms, a tactical coup, and a moral crusade. But it was also a triumph for espionage, deceit, and thinking of the most twisted sort. Following on from his hugely successful BBC Two documentaries, Operation Mincemeat and Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman Story (Agent Zigzag), writer and presenter Ben Macintyre returns to the small screen to bring to life his third best-selling book - Double Cross The True Story of the D-Day Spies. Macintyre reveals the gripping true story of five of the double agents who helped to make D-day such a success.

Double Cross: The True Story of the D-day Spies

2012

SAS: Rogue Warriors poster
7.1

The Special Air Service is the world's most famous combat unit, with the motto 'Who Dares Wins', but the story of how it came into existence has been, until now, a closely guarded secret. For the first time, the SAS has agreed to open up its archive and allow Ben Macintyre to reveal the true story of their formation during the darkest days of World War Two. With unprecedented access to the SAS secret files, unseen footage and exclusive interviews with its founder members, this series tells the remarkable story behind an extraordinary fighting force.

SAS: Rogue Warriors

2017

Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman Story poster
NR

The gripping story of Britain's most extraordinary double agent; Eddie Chapman. Chapman duped the Germans so successfully he was awarded their highest honour, the Iron Cross, the only UK citizen ever to have received one.

Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman Story

2011

Behind the camera

Operation Mincemeat poster
7.9

Documentary detailing the successful Operation Mincemeat in 1943, which led to the Allies successfully invading Sicily and the war turning in their favour.

Operation Mincemeat

2010

No artwork available
4.5

Author Ben Macintyre explores the truth behind one of the most famous double agents in modern history - Harold Kim Philby. He argues that Philby has become a caricature of the gentleman spy, obscuring the fact that Philby was a ruthless killer, who betrayed everyone around him. The key to Philby's success and his survival, Macintyre explains, lay in his friendship with a man that history has largely forgotten - Nicholas Elliott. Elliott was Philby's colleague in MI6 who befriended him, defended him, and unwittingly supplied him with secrets until he discovered the truth. This is the remarkable tale of two friends and two spies, each working on opposite sides in the Cold War.

Kim Philby: His Most Intimate Betrayal

2014

Double Cross: The True Story of the D-day Spies poster
6.7

The story of D-Day has been told from the point of view of the soldiers who fought in it, the tacticians who planned it and the generals who led it. But that epic event in world history has never been told before through the perspective of the strange handful of spies who made it possible. D-Day was a great victory of arms, a tactical coup, and a moral crusade. But it was also a triumph for espionage, deceit, and thinking of the most twisted sort. Following on from his hugely successful BBC Two documentaries, Operation Mincemeat and Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman Story (Agent Zigzag), writer and presenter Ben Macintyre returns to the small screen to bring to life his third best-selling book - Double Cross The True Story of the D-Day Spies. Macintyre reveals the gripping true story of five of the double agents who helped to make D-day such a success.

Double Cross: The True Story of the D-day Spies

2012

SAS: Rogue Warriors poster
7.1

The Special Air Service is the world's most famous combat unit, with the motto 'Who Dares Wins', but the story of how it came into existence has been, until now, a closely guarded secret. For the first time, the SAS has agreed to open up its archive and allow Ben Macintyre to reveal the true story of their formation during the darkest days of World War Two. With unprecedented access to the SAS secret files, unseen footage and exclusive interviews with its founder members, this series tells the remarkable story behind an extraordinary fighting force.

SAS: Rogue Warriors

2017