The explosive story of the poisoning of Sergei Skripal & the new spy war between the West & Russia, based on hours of exclusive interviews Skripal gave before his near-death with number one bestselling author Mark Urban, diplomatic & defence editor for BBC Newsnight.` With regard to traitors, they will kick the bucket on their own, I assure you... Whatever thirty pieces of silver those people may have gotten, they will stick in their throat.` Vladimir Putin, 20104 March 2018, Salisbury, Engl&. Sergei Skripal & his daughter Yulia were enjoying a rare & peaceful Sunday spent together, completely unaware that they had been poisoned with the deadly nerve agent Novichok. Hours later both were found slumped on a park bench close to death. Following their attempted murders on British soil, Russia was publicly accused by the West of carrying out the attack, marking a new low for international relations between the two since the end of the Cold War. The Skripal Files is the definitive account of how Skripal`s story fits into the wider context of the new spy war between Russia & the West. The book explores the time Skripal spent as a spy in the Russian military intelligence, how he was turned to work as an agent by MI6, his imprisonment in Russia & his eventual release as part of a spy-swap that would bring him to Salisbury where, on that fateful day, he & his daughter found themselves fighting for their lives.