Low Price Guarantee
We Take School POs
A Spy Named Orphan: The Enigma of Donald MacLean
Contributor(s): Philipps, Roland (Author)

View larger image

ISBN: 0393608573     ISBN-13: 9780393608571
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Retail: $28.95OUR PRICE: $21.13  
  Buy 25 or more:OUR PRICE: $19.40   Save More!
  Buy 100 or more:OUR PRICE: $18.53   Save More!


  WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD!   Click here for our low price guarantee

Binding Type: Hardcover - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: May 2018
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- History | Europe - Great Britain - 20th Century
- History | Russia & The Former Soviet Union
- True Crime | Espionage
Dewey: B
Physical Information: 1.6" H x 6.4" W x 9.3" L (1.75 lbs) 448 pages
Themes:
- Cultural Region - Russia
- Cultural Region - British Isles
- Chronological Period - 20th Century
Features: Bibliography, Illustrated, Index, Price on Product
Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 02/26/2018
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2018
Library Journal 05/01/2018 pg. 78
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

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. Drawing on a wealth of previously classified files and unseen family papers, A Spy Named Orphan meticulously documents his extraordinary story.

Roland Philipps unravels Maclean's character and contradictions, informed by a domineering father in a childhood at once liberal and austere. Maclean became infatuated with Communism during his school days, even before his time at Cambridge. A model diplomat, he rose through the ranks of the British Foreign Office rapidly, never arousing suspicion of his chilling double life. He married an American woman despite his sexual ambivalence and increasing antipathy to the United States. He was prone to alcoholic binges that should have blown his cover, yet they never found their way onto his record. 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. Maclean was a spy who loved and loathed the role. In a brazen escapade, he successfully eluded the incredulous authorities to defect to the Soviet Union, where he worked and lived unrepentantly for the next thirty years.

Philipps offers memorable portraits of Maclean's coconspirators--Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, and Anthony Blunt--as well as the gifted Russian spymasters of the period; a vibrant evocation of Cambridge and London between the wars; colorful descriptions of Maclean's postings in Paris, Cairo, and Washington, D.C.; and a riveting re-creation of the tense international code-breaking operation that ultimately exposed him. A gripping tale of blind faith and fierce loyalty alongside dangerous duplicity and human vulnerability, Philipps's narrative will stand as the definitive account of the mysterious and elusive man first codenamed Orphan.


Contributor Bio(s): Philipps, Roland: - Roland Philipps is the grandson of Roger Makins, the last man from the Foreign Office to see Donald Maclean before his escape to the Soviet Union. He was publishing director of Hodder & Stoughton and Macmillan, London, and managing director of John Murray Publishers. He lives in London.
 
Customer ReviewsSubmit your own review
 
To tell a friend about this book, you must Sign In First!