In A SPY NAMED ORPHAN: The Enigma of Donald Maclean (W.W Norton: May 1, 2018) historian Roland Philipps takes readers through the never-before told story of Donald Maclean, a member of the infamous “Cambridge Five” espionage ring. Maclean was one of the most treacherous and mysterious spies of the 20th century.

This is a real life Russian spy story – go back to 1951 – Donald MacLean is a respected diplomat at the head of the American Department in Britain’s Foreign Office. But he leads a double life as a Russian spy – one of the most senior spies ever detected inside the British government. Throughout his career, Maclean transmitted an astonishing number of diplomatic and military secrets to the USSR. Eventually, MI5 would close in and Maclean would defect to Russia.

Historian Philipps is the grandson of Sir Roger Makins – a British Foreign Officer and the last person to see Maclean before he fled to the Soviet Union. He weaves the story of these Cambridge spies that were young ideologues, energized by the ideas of Communism and driven to betray their country and families in pursuit of those ideals.

A SPY NAMED ORPHAN provides an inside look at this era and vividly paints the impact of espionage on family, country and society and the long-lasting effects it had on British-American relations.