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book cover for A Divided Life

A Divided Life

A Biography of Donald Maclean

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Pub Date 4 Oct 2018 | Archive Date 12 Feb 2019


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Description

In this perceptive biography of Donald Maclean, Robert Cecil draws on his close acquaintance with the man, first at Cambridge and then as his colleague in the Diplomatic Service, to give an insider’s view of Maclean and his circle of ideological spies: Burgess, Philby and Blunt. He details Maclean’s recruitment as an agent by the Comintern in 1934, his early years in Paris, marriage, breakdown in Cairo and ultimate flight, with Burgess, to the Soviet Union.

 

The heart of the book is Maclean’s years in Washington from 1944-48, a time when crucial decisions about the post-war world were being made. Maclean was assigned top secret work connected with the development of the atomic bomb – the ‘Manhattan Project’. He was undoubtedly Stalin’s best source in Washington, and Russian knowledge of US nuclear capabilities fuelled the atomic-weaponry race. His treachery did immense damage to Anglo-American relations. The other casualty, which Cecil is well-placed to describe, was to the gentlemanly culture of the Foreign Office and the sense of trust within the Service.

In this perceptive biography of Donald Maclean, Robert Cecil draws on his close acquaintance with the man, first at Cambridge and then as his colleague in the Diplomatic Service, to give an...


Advance Praise

“A riveting portrait.”
Publishers Weekly

"A splendidly perceptive life of Donald Maclean... [Cecil] provides, for the first time, a clear and detailed account by a Foreign Office colleague who knew Maclean, came from a similar background, and comprehends the unspoken assumptions of his time and class."
The Economist

"[Cecil's] insider's account both of uneasy U.S.-British relations and of the intelligence establishment's equivocal reaction to these scandals is an undercover story in its own right."
Booklist

"The portrait of Maclean is convincing and the assessment of the damage done to Anglo-American interests... is knowledgeable and shrewd."
Financial Times

"Delivered in a crisp, literate. no-nonsense style, this compact biography offers an agreeably narrow focus on a spy-tangle that often seems dauntingly dense."
Kirkus Reviews

“A riveting portrait.”
Publishers Weekly

"A splendidly perceptive life of Donald Maclean... [Cecil] provides, for the first time, a clear and detailed account by a Foreign Office colleague who...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781786080592
PRICE US$14.99 (USD)

Average rating from 19 members


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