Maclean was a spy who loved and loathed the role. A sworn enemy of capitalism, he had access to some of the greatest secrets of the time, transmitting invaulable intelligence to his Soviet handlers on the atom bomb and the shape of the postwar world. He was prone to alcoholic binges that should have blown his cover, yet they never found their way onto his record. He married an American woman despite his sexual ambivalence and increasing antipathy to the United States. A model diplomat, he rose through the ranks of the British Foreign Office rapidly, never arousing suspicion of his chilling double life. Maclean became infatuated with Communism during his school days, even before his time at Cambridge. Roland Philipps unravels Maclean's character and contradictions, informed by a domineering father in a childhood at once liberal and austere. Drawing on a wealth of previously classified files and unseen family papers, A Spy Named Orphan meticulously documents his extraordinary story. Donald Maclean was one of the most treacherous spies of the Cold War era and a key member of the infamous "Cambridge Five" spy ring, yet the full extent of this shrewd, secretive man's betrayal has never been explored-until now.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |