The Cambridge Spy Ring: The Treachery of the Five Who Got Away

"Morris skillfully re-tells the stories of lives lost and money wasted on anti-Soviet operations that were known to the enemy before they began. She also details the lives of the spies themselves, most notably the toll that their double lives took on them and their families." – Studies in Intelligence

In a history once thought too big for one book, the individual lives and careers of the Cambridge Five are now woven together in a single action-packed saga.

The Cambridge Spy Ring: The Treachery of the Five Who Got Away tells the incredible true story of the five most damaging spies in British history, from their recruitment at Cambridge University to their infiltration of the highest levels of government, all while successfully eluding prosecution.

When legendary KGB spymaster Arnold Deutsch began cultivating his network of agents, he didn’t try to entice established bureaucrats. He instead sought out young rising stars with elite educations and promising futures, enlisted them as spies, and sent them into government careers where they would gain access to the most coveted state secrets in an increasingly polarised world. Beginning with the recruitment of the audacious Kim Philby, who would become the de facto ringleader, we follow the exploits of Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross as they funnel a deluge of confidential documents and privileged information to the Soviet KGB.

Their espionage adventures spanned nearly two decades, from the Spanish Civil War and Stalin’s Great Purge, through the Second World War, to the early Cold War. Their antics would not be complete without binge drinking, fist fights, car wrecks, romantic liaisons, and the heartless betrayal of friends and country alike.

The Cambridge Spy Ring finally pieces together the full account of all five Cambridge Spies in one compelling history.