Roland Philipps is the grandson of Roger Makins, the last man from the Foreign Office to see Donald Maclean before his escape to the Soviet Union. He was publishing director of Hodder & Stoughton and Macmillan, London, and managing director of John Murray Publishers. He lives in London.
"Brilliantly fluent.... [T]his biography first grips and then
lingers long in the mind. It is a page-turner of the most
empathetic kind." -- Rachel Cooke - The Guardian
"Roland Philipps relates the complex narrative of Maclean's
treason-and those of his colleagues-with tremendous aplomb,
limpidity and acuity." -- William Boyd - New Statesman
"Fascinating and page-turning. An exceptional story of espionage
and betrayal, thrillingly told. I devoured it." -- Philippe Sands,
author of East West Street
"Philipps sets a great example by being punchy and hard-nosed in
his handling of facts, but pliant, imaginative and humane in his
understanding of motives and emotions." -- Richard Davenport-Hines
- The Guardian
"Excellent.... What fascinates Philipps is not what Maclean did but
why he did it.... Philipps' real achievement is to show the toll
this took on Maclean's conflicted psyche." -- Dominic Sandbrook -
The Sunday Times (UK)
"Fresh and thought-provoking throughout." -- Giles Udy - The Times
(UK)
"The definitive account of the life of a 'gifted' traitor.... [B]y
drawing on a wealth of previously classified material, Philipps
weaves a gripping tale of misplaced loyalty, intrigue and betrayal
that is unlikely to be bettered." -- Daily Express
"Donald Maclean was arguably the most valuable, and certainly the
most troubled, of the Cambridge spies. Roland Philipps knows the
world that formed him and has given us the fullest account we've
yet had not only of his treason but of the conflicted man who
committed it." -- Joseph Kanon, New York Times best-selling author
of Defectors
"From his riveting re-creation of the Cold War atmosphere to his
in-depth exploration of such a brilliant, troubled, and duplicitous
character, Roland Philipps has created a masterpiece. The rich
renderings of secret assignations, smuggled documents, damning
intelligence, and brilliant code-breaking will delight lovers of
fiction and nonfiction alike. Picture Erik Larson meets John le
Carre and you have only begun to scratch the surface of this
absolutely gripping book." -- Brad Thor, #1 New York Times
best-selling author of Use of Force
"With A Spy Named Orphan, the last piece of this bizarre
jigsaw falls into place. The outline story is familiar, but the
amount of new detail here-on Maclean's personal, professional, and
secret lives-exceeds all expectations. Roland Philipps has managed
to make the new material come alive by relating it intimately to
its historical context, of which he has a deep and sympathetic
understanding." -- Sebastian Faulks, author of Birdsong
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