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History Extra podcast

The librarian who stole KGB secrets

History Extra podcast

Immediate Media

History

4.34.5K Ratings

🗓️ 12 November 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When an elderly man with a battered suitcase walked into the British embassy in Vilnius in 1992, few could have guessed what he was about to hand over. Gordon Corera tells the story of Vasili Mitrokhin, an under-the-radar Soviet archivist who copied thousands of classified KGB documents over 12 years. Speaking to Elinor Evans, he reveals how a project that began as a private rebellion against the agency he once served evolved into one of the greatest intelligence coups of the 20th century. (Ad) Gordon Corera is the author of The Spy in the Archive: How One Man Tried to Kill the KGB (William Collins, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spy-Archive-Gordon-Corera/dp/0008644799/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This History Extra podcast is sponsored by Guide Dogs. Training dogs to support people with sight loss

0:05.7

goes back almost 100 years when they were used to help German veterans in the First World War.

0:11.9

And it wasn't long before this life-changing idea caught on. In the UK today, the charity Guide Dogs

0:17.7

helps people with sight loss live the lives they choose.

0:21.4

As their new film proves, people with vision impairments are out there, just getting on

0:25.9

with life in the way they want.

0:27.9

Not a lot of people realise that there's so much more to guide dogs than the dogs themselves.

0:32.6

Of course, those furry life changes are incredible, but the charity also helps people with

0:37.3

sight loss in so many ways,

0:39.2

giving them the tools and confidence to fulfill their ambitions, from the everyday to the extraordinary.

0:44.8

Because you don't just have to manage with sight loss, you can thrive with it.

0:48.7

Anyone can help by getting involved, by donating, volunteering or sponsoring a puppy.

0:55.6

Find out more about guide dogs' life-changing services or how you can support their incredible work at guidedogs.org.uk.

1:02.3

This History Extra podcast is sponsored by Ancestry. Every Remembrance Day, people honour and reflect on

1:08.4

their family's contribution to conflicts throughout history,

1:11.9

including the First and Second World Wars.

1:14.4

And this year, Ancestry is marking remembrance by offering UK users free access

1:19.5

to its global wartime records until Wednesday the 12th of November.

1:24.0

Spanning the front line to the Home Front,

1:26.2

the collections include billions of records from around the

1:28.8

world relating to both World Wars and other historical conflicts. From military documents detailing

1:34.7

army service to archive photographs and civilian records of how people supported the war effort,

...

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