
A Divided Life
A Biography of Donald Maclean
by Robert Cecil
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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.
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
Available Editions
EDITION | Paperback |
ISBN | 9781786080592 |
PRICE | US$14.99 (USD) |
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