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Résumé
Résumé
The Angel is an award-winning expose about the sensational life and mysterious death of Ashraf Marwan, an Egyptian senior official who spied for Israel. A National Jewish Book Awards Winner Basis for the Netflix Original Movie A Best Intelligence Book by The American Association of Former Intelligence Officers As the son-in-law of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and a close advisor to his successor, Anwar Sadat, Ashraf Marwan had access to the deepest secrets of the country's government. But Marwan himself had a secret: He was a spy for the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service. Under the codename "The Angel," Marwan turned Egypt into an open book for the Israeli intelligence services--and, by alerting the Mossad in advance of the joint Egyptian-Syrian attack on Yom Kippur, saved Israel from a devastating defeat.Drawing on meticulous research and interviews with many key participants, political science professor Uri Bar-Joseph's The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel pieces together Marwan's story. In the process, he sheds new light on this volatile time in modern Egyptian and Middle Eastern history, culminating in 2011's Arab Spring. The Angel also chronicles the discord within the Israeli government that brought down Prime Minister Golda Meir.However, this nail-biting narrative doesn't end with Israel's victory in the Yom Kippur War. Marwan eluded Egypt's ruthless secret services for many years, but then somebody talked. In 2007, his body was found in the garden of his London apartment building. Police suspected he had been thrown from his fifth-floor balcony, and thanks to explosive new evidence, Bar-Joseph can finally reveal who, how, and why.
Critiques (4)
Critique de Kirkus
A detailed biography of Ashraf Marwan (1944-2007), an Egyptian national and Israel's most vital informant. According to Bar-Joseph (Political Science/Univ. of Haifa; The Watchman Fell Asleep: The Surprise of Yom Kippur and Its Sources, 2005, etc.), Marwan was an ordinary man with grand ambitions. His frustration with Egyptian politics led him to contact Mossad, Israel's intelligence network. What is surprising is how early this occurs in the book. In the first chapter, the author covers his parentage, youth, marriage to President Gamal Abdel Nasser's daughter, and daring decision to betray his own government. Equally surprising is how difficult this process was, given the complex Cold War landscape; at first, his plea was ignored. In order to explain this landscape to his readers, Bar-Joseph dedicates much of the book to the bellicose relationship between Egypt and Israel, spotlighting the importance of Marwan's espionage. As Mossad director Zvi Zamir once put it, Marwan was "the greatest source we ever had." The most intriguing part of the book is the third act, when Marwan is slowly unmasked. Without a doubt, he helped save innumerable Israeli lives, but he is also described as an egotist and thrill-seeker, and he was clearly paid well for his services. Early on, Bar-Joseph addresses the big question: why he would do something so dangerous and unpatriotic. "His behavior included a need for stimulus, which often drives people to take risks, whether physical or emotional," he writes. "Some people take up rock climbing, skydiving, or bungee jumping. But Marwan was not drawn to the sporting life; instead he indulged in both gambling and, later, in unsavory business deals; or in taking needless risks in his contacts with the Israelis." The author writes from an Israeli perspective, but he shows great empathy for a man who was in turn respected, reviled, and almost certainly murdered. Well-researched and candidly told, this book deserves shelf space next to volumes on Vladimir Vetrov and Kim Philby. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Critique de Booklist
Uri Bar-Joseph's (The Watchman Fell Asleep, 2005) The Angel documents the rise and fall of Ashraf Marwan, son-in-law of Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Israel's greatest spy. After Nasser died in 1970, Marwan became President Anwar Sadat's special attaché, allowing him to travel freely around the Middle East and Europe, meeting both with Egypt's allies and his secret Israeli operative. Though the military and political information Marwan passed always proved accurate, in the months prior to the 1973 Yom Kippur war, some senior Israeli officials ignored his dire warnings and the Israeli military was caught off guard when the war began. The Egyptian-Syrian war plans unfolded as Marwan had described, ultimately giving the Israelis the upper hand. Unsurprisingly, the story doesn't end well for Marwan. Officially reported as a suicide, his fall from a London balcony in 2006 is suspected to be a revenge killing by Egyptians. This extensively researched story is rich in spy tradecraft and reads like a true-life John le Carré novel. Fans of true crime, espionage, and Middle East geopolitics will gobble this book up.--Dan Kaplan Copyright 2019 Booklist
Critique du New York Review of Books
THE DEVILS OF CARDONA, by Matthew Carr. (Riverhead, $27.) Carr's enthralling and exciting fiction debut, set in late-16th-century Aragon, highlights the tensions between the region's Christians and its Muslim converts. GOOD AS GONE, by Amy Gentry. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $23.) In this first novel, the apparent reappearance of a kidnapped young woman after eight years raises questions about identity. ALL THE MISSING GIRLS, by Megan Miranda. (Simon & Schuster, $25.) A woman returns to her hometown in search of a friend who has disappeared in Miranda's intriguingly narrated thriller. UNDER THE HARROW, by Flynn Berry. (Penguin, paper, $16.) A woman seeks her sister's brutal murderer in Berry's compulsively readable novel of psychological suspense, narrated in a striking, original voice. YOU WILL KNOW ME, by Megan Abbott. (Little, Brown, $26.) Abbott's skillfully written murder mystery centers on an ambitious teenage gymnast and her family. THE DEATH OF REX NHONGO, by C.B. George. (Lee Boudreaux/Little, Brown, $26.) A gifted storyteller's first novel explores intricately intertwined lives in contemporary Zimbabwe. DANCING WITH THE TIGER, by Lili Wright. (Marian Wood/Putnam, $26.) A struggle to acquire Montezuma's death mask animates this energetic debut, a sprawling literary thriller. THE ANGEL: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel, by Uri Bar-Joseph. (Harper/HarperCollins, $29.99.) A trenchant account of the career of a master spy. MISSING, PRESUMED, by Susie Steiner. (Random House, $27.) Steiner's smart, stylish detective novel features a convincing ensemble cast. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books.
Critique du Library Journal
Israeli University of Haifa political science professor, author (The Watchman Fell Asleep), and former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intelligence analyst Bar-Joseph presents the history of the rise, clandestine exploits, immense success, and eventual fall (from the balcony of his fifth floor London apartment in 2007) of Ashraf Marwan. Marwan was the son-in-law to former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, adviser to Anwar Sadat, and agent for the Israeli Mossad in the critical era of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. This book, one of several written about Marwan in the past dozen years, establishes beyond doubt that Marwan was the spy who most benefitted Israel in the 1970s and 1980s, and not a double agent, as contended by his family and Egyptian defenders. Bar-Joseph also demonstrates that the Israeli military was caught by surprise on Yom Kippur in 1973 owing to their inability to believe and act effectively on what Marwan clearly reported to them, and that Eli Zeira, the then-head of IDF military intelligence, was responsible both for that intelligence failure and the much later exposure of Marwan as a spy. VERDICT This work will be of great interest to readers trying to understand the byzantine world of international intelligence as it affects Israel.-Joel Neuberg, Santa Rosa Junior Coll. Lib., CA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
