Traitors & Turncoats

by Ian Crofton

From Judas to John Brown, Mata Hari to Sammy "The Bull" Graviano—a gripping narrative of treachery, farce, and folly across three millennia of world history 

The stories in this action-packed collection range from a British seaman in World War II who sold information to the Germans for a pittance, to the White Rose gang's defiant campaign against Hitler; from the recusant terrorism of Guy Fawkes, to the abolitionist fury of John Brown; from the unwitting treason of Lady Jane Grey, to the deadly perfidy of Mata Hari.

Thoroughly researched and grippingly told, these tales of treachery embrace cowardice and cupidity, high tension and terrible tragedy. People have betrayed their country, or their friends, for all kinds of different reasons—and one person's traitor may be another person's hero, especially as those found guilty of treason have usually faced only one penalty: death. This book contains a wonderful array of stories on a wide range of historical figures, from the well-known to the obscure.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[aurora ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has been a struggle to finish — partly because, despite its subject matter, it has turned out to be rather dull. The author appears not to know how to write about history in a way that holds the reader's attention.

Also, I did arch a brow at some of the choices for 'traitors': people like Benedict Arnold and Philippe Pétain I can understand, but Lady Jane Grey? Not so much.

[A C]

This was... interesting. It was informative, and I enjoyed learning about these different figures of history.

[scarlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was a very informative journey through the history of traitors, with some really niche and fascinating pieces of knowledge picked out and an introduction which really helps to set the tone
But, its niche facts are its biggest weakness, as it can be a struggle to connect and place information, people and times without prior historical knowledge and context on that time period

[Steve Webster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but tough to absorb some of the historical details unless you already have a strong historical background. Some of the folks reported are pretty inconsequential in the grand scheme of things so you are left wondering why they are memorialized.

[Michelle Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love history. This book lists 20 traitors & turncoats but there were a few names that I didn't recognize so learning about them was interesting.

[Bethany Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me a while to finish. The individual stories were mostly interesting but some were not written engagingly. I do wish some people were given longer entries, Mata Hari for example.

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book in the expectation of learning about some "traitors and turncoats". At first, I was deeply interested until about halfway where I saw a problem.

I forget which individual the author was talking about but he started to write as if the reader should know what happened at that period of time. Fortunately, for that article, I knew what was going on, but for future articles, were I was barely alive and yet more recent in history, the descriptions were heavy with information that I couldn't comprehend because I wasn't aware of what was going on in the world.

[Deanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of historical characters reguarded by some as traitors, and some as heroes. I know most of the people mentioned in the pages, Guy Fawkes, Mata Hari, Lord Haw haw and Kim Philby. However did find the inclusion of some of those mentioned harder to fathom, Anne Boleyn was in the way. Lady Jane Grey, executed at 16 was the victim of the ambition of certain members of the family, hardly a traitor.