The Traitors Circle cover art

The Traitors Circle

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Traitors Circle

By: Jonathan Freedland
Narrated by: Jonathan Freedland
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

 THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE ESCAPE ARTIST

A THE ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Magnificent . . . Important and impressive'
DAILY TELEGRAPH

'Astonishing . . . Freedland is a master'
MICK HERRON

'Remarkable . . . This is how the best history books will be written in the future'
ANDREW ROBERTS

'Excellent . . . Perfect reading for this moment'
ANNE APPLEBAUM

'Utterly gripping, brilliantly researched and written'
ANTHONY HOROWITZ

'Compelling'
MAX HASTINGS, SUNDAY TIMES

'Thrilling, humane, and deeply moving . . . Not to be missed'
DAVID McCLOSKEY

'Totally gripping and timely'
JONATHAN DIMBLEBY

When the whole world is lying, someone must tell the truth.

Berlin, 1943. A group of high-society anti-Nazi dissenters meet for a tea party one late summer afternoon. They do not know that, sitting around the table, is someone poised to betray them all to the Gestapo - revealing their secret to the Nazis' most ruthless detective.

They form a circle of unlikely rebels, drawn from the German elite: two countesses, a diplomat, an intelligence officer, an ambassador's widow and a pioneering headmistress. Meeting in the shadows, rescuing Jews or plotting for a future Germany freed from the Führer's rule, what unites them is a shared loathing of the Nazis, a refusal to bow to Hitler and the courage to perform perilous acts of resistance. Or so they believe.

How did a group of brave, principled rebels, who had successfully defied Adolf Hitler for more than a decade, come to fall into such a lethal trap? And who betrayed them?

Undone from within and pursued to near-destruction by one of the Reich's cruellest men, they showed a heroism that raises a question with new urgency for our time: what kind of person does it take to risk everything and stand up to tyranny?©2025 Jonathan Freedland 20th Century Best of 2025 Military Modern Heartfelt Inspiring Scary Thought-Provoking Imperialism Espionage

Critic reviews

Haunting and heart-poundingly suspenseful - an extraordinary exploration of moral courage in a world overwhelmed by Nazi darkness. Freedland's passionate narrative takes us into secret and sometimes surprising corners of Hitler's Germany. In those shadows of vicious totalitarianism and betrayal - and facing the abyss of the Holocaust - is a circle of friends who embody unwavering human decency and faith and love. Freedland's powerful story-telling has intense resonance in today's darkening world. The moral questions are eternal (Sinclair McKay, bestselling author of DRESDEN)
A story of unlikely rebels who had much to lose from resisting the Nazi regime, which so many of their peers supported. What made them trade personal safety for moral rectitude? Freedland's answer is as tense as a thriller yet perceptive, thoughtful and thoroughly researched. It made me think long after I'd turned the last page (Katja Hoyer, bestselling author of BEYOND THE WALL)
Written like a novel, this tale of heroism, camaraderie, betrayal and tragedy will leave a lasting impression. It is a salutary reminder that history can inspire, even in the darkest of times (JOHN BEW, bestselling author of CITIZEN CLEM)
An astonishing true story of courage, love and betrayal, told with the verve of a thriller. Freedland is a master at weaving spellbinding entertainments drawn from forgotten corners of history (Mick Herron)
The Traitors Circle rivals Freedland's superb The Escape Artist. A revelatory account of heroism and treachery in Nazi Germany, it based on original research and reads like a thriller. Totally gripping and timely (Jonathan Dimbleby)
Though every word is true, this remarkable book reads like a novel. Part thriller, part adventure story, part Holocaust history, it is a searing memorial to the half-million Germans who died opposing Hitler, as well as the six million Jews he killed. The narrative style is gripping; the morality searing. This is how the best history books will be written in the future (Andrew Roberts, author of CHURCHILL: WALKING WITH DESTINY)
The Traitors Circle is not only a thrilling, humane, and deeply moving account of heroism, espionage, and betrayal in the Third Reich - it is the best sort of history, one whose rich characters breathe life and perspective into our present circumstance. Haunting, and not to be missed (David McCloskey, author of DAMASCUS STATION)
Gripping, chilling, inspiring - Jonathan Freedland has a unique gift for exploring history's most profound questions with the urgency of a news reporter and the stylistic flair of a great novelist (Rafael Behr)
All stars
Most relevant
An unknown act of resistance to me, and prescient of our current time(s). We equate rebellion and resistance primarily with France, not with meme era of the German public during that period. The strength to stand by your convictions, seek change and act to save those worst persecuted, was inspiring.

A concise and informative account of this group of people. Has inspired me to seek out further writings on this topic.

Fascinating account of rebellion and strength

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Carefully researched powerful account of a largely unrecognised aspect of history: Germans who stood up against the Nazis

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a book that will stay with me. I couldn´t stop listening. It was interesting, exciting and gripping from the first chapter. The brave germans who resisted the Nazi regime must never be forgotten. Here we meet real people and follow them through the years and learn a lot of what it means to be a human being - then and now. Brilliantly written and performed. One of the best book I´ve bought from Audible.

Outstanding

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Hugely compelling story told and narrated by the author. The actual premise is pretty mundane - just an every day tea party involving like minded normal Germans during WW2 when merely saying something deemed 'defeatest' could mean imprisonment or even death. The premise may be mundane but the detail of the subsequent unravelling of all the participants lives is horribly fascinating. As ever, one is glad not to live in such times but it is gloomily frightening to think how easy it might happen again.

Detailed and harrowing analysis

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What a story! Well researched, informative and gripping. I devoured it in 2 sittings! They deserve for us to know their names and their stories. Rest in peace.

Fascinating

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews