Stalin's Englishman : Guy Burgess, the Cold War, and the Cambridge Spy Ring
Author(s): Andrew Lownie
Guy Burgess was the most important, complex, and fascinating of "The Cambridge Spies"—Maclean, Philby, Blunt—brilliant young men recruited in the 1930s to betray their country to the Soviet Union. An engaging and charming companion to many, an unappealing, utterly ruthless manipulator to others, Burgess rose through academia, the BBC, the Foreign Office, MI5 and MI6, gaining access to thousands of highly sensitive secret documents which he passed to his Russian handlers.
In this first full biography, Andrew Lownie shows us how even Burgess's chaotic personal life of drunken philandering did nothing to stop his penetration and betrayal of the British Intelligence Service. Even when he was under suspicion, the fabled charm which had enabled many close personal relationships with influential Establishment figures (including Winston Churchill) prevented his exposure as a spy for many years.
Through interviews with more than a hundred people who knew Burgess personally, many of whom have never spoken about him before, and the discovery of hitherto secret files, Stalin's Englishman brilliantly unravels the many lives of Guy Burgess in all their intriguing, chilling, colorful, tragi-comic wonder.
Review(s):
"A real-life page turner." - The New York Post
“Mr. Lownie makes a convincing case that Burgess was the most important of the Cambridge spies. A must-read for intelligence buffs — and especially those charged with protecting our nation’s secrets.” - The Washington Times
"A crack biography of a man who was a preposterous enigma." – Kirkus Reviews
"Stalin’s Englishman is a fine biography about an effective spy and a disgraceful traitor who lived to enjoy Communist reality firsthand. It fills a major historical gap in espionage history." - CIA journal Studies In Intelligence
"Awful human beings make for splendid biographies." -Times Best Biographies of the Year 2015 (UK)
“A meticulously researched biography...an astonishing piece of research.” – Sunday Times
“Is there anything significant left to say about members of the Cambridge spy ring, Moscow's ‘magnificent five’? The answer, judging by this book, is a resounding yes.” – Guardian
“An abundance of vivid detail from many different voices, viewpoints and nationalities...Stalin's Englishman is a matchless and splendidly exciting read.” – The Times of London
“This exhaustively researched and absorbing book, the first full biographical study and likely to remain the definitive life.” – New Statesman
“Complicated, revelatory: a superb biography more riveting than a spy novel.” – Sunday Telegraph
“As one of [Britain’s] foremost literary agents, Andrew Lownie certainly knows what makes a good book, and in Stalin's Englishman he has delivered one of his own — many times over.” – Independent
“In this meticulous biography of the most colourful of the quintet, espionage expert Lownie argues convincingly that Burgess — often seen as a clownish buffoon - was the key member of the ring, and his treachery the most damaging.” – Observer
“A masterly biography.” – Mail on Sunday
“A hugely entertaining read about one of the most notorious spies ever. Eric Ambler couldn’t have provided a more fascinating story.” – Philip Kerr, New York Times bestselling author of The Other Side of Silence
“A remarkable and definitive portrait of the truly ghastly spy and traitor Guy Burgess who should surely never have been permitted to do us so much damage. And a portrait of the snobbery and laxity that permitted an Old Etonian who had changed sides to get away with it for so long.” – Frederick Forsyth, former journalist and spy and New York Times bestselling author of The Kill List
“Andrew Lownie demonstrates that there is plenty still to be learned about Burgess...an enjoyable and convincing biography.” – Adam Sisman, author of John le Carré: The Biography
“Andrew Lownie’s biography of Guy Burgess is superb. Required reading for anyone interested in the Cambridge Five.” – Charles Cumming New York Times bestselling author of The Trinity Six
“This is a must-read for anyone at all interested in espionage. The definitive and revelatory biography of one of the greatest traitors of the Cold War.” – Jeremy Dunsauthor, author of the Paul Dark spy series and Codename: Hero
“Shrewd, thorough, revelatory.” – William Boyd, author of Restless
“A masterly and penetrating study of this strange man, the rich well-connected, brilliant Cambridge scholar, who was a seriously dangerous agent for the Soviet Union from the 1930s until he fled with Maclean in 1951.” – Michael Hartland, author of Seven Steps to Treason
"Stalin's Englishman comes as close to touching the tortured and tempestuous soul of Guy Burgess as anything I have read. It's superbly researched and written with an extraordinary elegance that takes you by the hand and guides you along the pathways of outrageous treachery. Truly exceptional." – Michael Dobbs, author of House of Cards
“Almost from the moment he skipped the country Guy Burgess has been the subject of biographers, from early journalists’ hastily assembled clippings, via the academic study, to Stalin’s Englishman — the first ‘life’ that captures the man fully … the decadent, the drunkard, the outrageous sex bandit ... and above the all the first life to reveal the full extent of Burgess’s treason. Andrew Lownie’s book will be definitive for years to come.” – John Lawton, author of the Inspector Troy series
“I loved it. Beautifully written and riveting from start to finish. Also very funny.” – Piers Brendon, author of Ike: His Life and Times and The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s
Long-listed The Guardian (UK) Best Books of the Year (2015)
ISBN: 9781250100993