Stalin's Englishman
The Lives of Guy Burgess
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Stalin's Englishman
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Narrated by:
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Simon Shepherd
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By:
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Andrew Lownie
About this listen
'MORE RIVETING THAN A SPY NOVEL': THE GRIPPING TRUE STORY OF CAMBRIDGE SPY GUY BURGESS
Guy Burgess was the most important, complex and fascinating of 'The Cambridge Spies' - Maclean, Philby, Blunt - all 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, colourful, tragi-comic wonder.
PUBLISHED TO GREAT CRITICAL ACCLAIM:
Winner of the St Ermin's Intelligence Book of the Year Award.
'One of the great biographies of 2015.' The Times
Fully updated edition including recently released information.
A Guardian Book of the Year. The Times Best Biography of the Year. Mail on Sunday Biography of the Year. Daily Mail Biography of Year. Spectator Book of the Year. BBC History Book of the Year.
'A remarkable and definitive portrait ' Frederick Forsyth
'Andrew Lownie's biography of Guy Burgess, Stalin's Englishman ... shrewd, thorough, revelatory.' William Boyd
'In the sad and funny Stalin's Englishman, [Lownie] manages to convey the charm as well as the turpitude.' Craig Brown
What listeners say about Stalin's Englishman
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Robyn
- 11-15-15
Very interesting
This book is a winner on several fronts. Burgess was a fascinating character and his life with its ups and downs and contradictions and ultimately sad ending is well worth a biography. Then there was Burgess' role within the Cambridge 5, one of the ultimate spy stories and one which still holds some secrets. Set for the most part against the background of pre-war and Cold War England, the book held my interest from start to finish although I did have to concentrate to keep on top of the big cast of characters. Andrew Lownie knows how to tell a gripping tale, and Simon Shepherd is a competent narrator.
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