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The Last Cambridge Spy: John Cairncross, Bletchley Park Mole and Soviet Agent
John Cairncross was among the most damaging spies of the twentieth century. A member of the infamous Cambridge spy ring, he leaked highly sensitive documents from Bletchley Park, MI6 and the Treasury to the Soviet Union – including the first Atomic secrets and raw decrypts from Enigma and Tunny that influenced the outcome of the Battle of Kursk. Based on newly released archival materials, this biography will be the first to cover the life and espionage of this singularly important spy. In 2014 Cairncross appeared as a secondary, though key, character in the biopic of Alan Turing's life, The Imitation Game. The result was considerable negative reaction within the national press. Despite this clear interest, the function filled by Cairncross remains an untold story. Where all of the other members of the Cambridge spy ring have been the subject of extensive biographical study, Cairncross has largely been omitted by both academic and popular writers, and no biography has yet been penned of his life.
355 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 13, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 11, 2019
Rare details of the 5th Man
Whilst the term "Cambridge 5" is well known, there are not many books detailing the life, recruitment and work of the "5th Man" John Cairncross apart from an autobigraphy.
This surprising omission is filled by Christopher Smith's latest book that delivers an accessible and fascinating biography using newly released archival materials to flesh out the story of Cairncross.
Whilst the term "Cambridge 5" is well known, there are not many books detailing the life, recruitment and work of the "5th Man" John Cairncross apart from an autobigraphy.
This surprising omission is filled by Christopher Smith's latest book that delivers an accessible and fascinating biography using newly released archival materials to flesh out the story of Cairncross.
July 25, 2022
Fascinating account of the career of the least famous of the Cambridge Spies, who passed decrypted Bletchley Park information to the Soviets; he may also have informed his handlers of the Anglo-American nuclear programme. I find books about real life spies fascinating, particularly the ones who passed secrets from the heart of the British state, and this one paints a fascinating subject of a man who gave the Soviets a lot of secret documents while still being rather cack-handed about the whole business of espionage. It is also interesting on his post-spy career, when he was never quite sure whether he would face prosecution if he ever returned to the UK but trying to build an academic reputation while earning a living as a translator.
February 25, 2020
Definitely an ineresting book for people who follow the famous spy drama of the Cambridge five. Whle it was very detailed and did provide a glimpse into the activities at Bletchley park, i found the writing to be dry. It was hard to get through, but for espionage buffs it is worth reading. I was not however interested in all the details of his life after his betrayals.
September 7, 2023
Cambridge Five is one of the most curious events of the 20'th century. Britain's intelligence was overrun and controlled by double spies working for Stalin and KGB. And as Britain is conservative instead of capturing them and letting them sit in prison they let them flee to USSR to avoid embarrassment. Cambridge Five were Cambridge educated, often extremely self-centered and narcissistic, extremely greedy and focused on power and money, socialist, and either obsessed with women or gay. It was also usual for double spies to drink a lot and be weird overall. KGB then paid them enough so that they could rise in rank or at least want to rise in rank to be more important for KGB while never feeling big enough in Britain.
Initially they claimed they gave Stalin state secrets because they were against Hitler, but they were also Marxist–Leninists actually supporting communism even though Stalin was proven to be a psychopath even back then. The Hitler claim was a story they told afterwards to explain their spying. In my belief they supported communism and also just wanted more power in Britain. They were British and did want to stay there. But they wanted leadership positions and status and were rebels. They didn't live like communists and didn't daily support communism as such. But it was an ideology they could use to get ahead and live a good life. And as they were not punished for it I guess they were correct.
Kim Philby is the big name here. One of the most destructive spies ever. Documents with USSR spy names would make USSR execute all the spies in a single instance. He also gave them names of rebels in secret operations in various satellite countries so that USSR could kill them all right away. So a single traitor could have killed hundreds of people which Kim Philby did. This also meant that at times there were no spies at all in USSR. Not a single one as all were often killed at the same time. But John Cairncross is not quite Kim Philby. The fact that he was never imprisoned and could travel in and out of UK kinda illustrates this. Kim Philby was told to run to USSR to not be imprisoned as they would have needed to do something about him because media already knew a lot. But John Cairncross was not even told that and knew he was safe. So the story is obviously a small one from this Cambridge Five event. Yet the audiobook is short and well-written so I still enjoyed it.
The short story warrants a short book. We know were little about John Cairncross. He didn't escape to USSR so he didn't write books or give interviews about his spy work. And he also wasn't imprisoned by UK so he was not forced to give interviews about what he did in return for leniency. He just got away with it meaning he never needed to say anything and could just loosely deny things to remain free and in the West. Only much later did British media pick up on the story. But the author does fill out the space with other spy stories and other characters and this is where the book is not quite up to par. The Kim Philby story for example is basically an encyclopedia summary that feels hollow. It's not that the story is essential to tell in full here, but once you go over the main events for Cambridge Five you should tell us who Kim Philby got killed and how. At times the book would just mention a name of a spy who actually got executed, but just tell us Kim Philby gave info to USSR to make him go away. Not going into the horrible executions or kidnappings caused by this. Details we do know about. This background info would make readers understand what was going on and how top spies worked. Instead it's quite perplexing and unfinished for newcomers to the story that will often just be overly confused by this all. Still, it's fun even if you are confused.
I would recommend reading or listening to A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal
Make sure to read that book before this one. It will make 100% sence. Otherwise you are just reading a small story about some 5th spy when not even knowing about the 4 bigger names. This is basically extra reading material for us who adore all this spy work. But the title itself reveals what it is. It's a follow-up to a much bigger story. And a small follow up at that. But I personally am satisfied. I knew this wasn't a big story and already knew many details so I could understand his vague points. Highly recommended as an audiobook even though it is a bit short and small.
Initially they claimed they gave Stalin state secrets because they were against Hitler, but they were also Marxist–Leninists actually supporting communism even though Stalin was proven to be a psychopath even back then. The Hitler claim was a story they told afterwards to explain their spying. In my belief they supported communism and also just wanted more power in Britain. They were British and did want to stay there. But they wanted leadership positions and status and were rebels. They didn't live like communists and didn't daily support communism as such. But it was an ideology they could use to get ahead and live a good life. And as they were not punished for it I guess they were correct.
Kim Philby is the big name here. One of the most destructive spies ever. Documents with USSR spy names would make USSR execute all the spies in a single instance. He also gave them names of rebels in secret operations in various satellite countries so that USSR could kill them all right away. So a single traitor could have killed hundreds of people which Kim Philby did. This also meant that at times there were no spies at all in USSR. Not a single one as all were often killed at the same time. But John Cairncross is not quite Kim Philby. The fact that he was never imprisoned and could travel in and out of UK kinda illustrates this. Kim Philby was told to run to USSR to not be imprisoned as they would have needed to do something about him because media already knew a lot. But John Cairncross was not even told that and knew he was safe. So the story is obviously a small one from this Cambridge Five event. Yet the audiobook is short and well-written so I still enjoyed it.
The short story warrants a short book. We know were little about John Cairncross. He didn't escape to USSR so he didn't write books or give interviews about his spy work. And he also wasn't imprisoned by UK so he was not forced to give interviews about what he did in return for leniency. He just got away with it meaning he never needed to say anything and could just loosely deny things to remain free and in the West. Only much later did British media pick up on the story. But the author does fill out the space with other spy stories and other characters and this is where the book is not quite up to par. The Kim Philby story for example is basically an encyclopedia summary that feels hollow. It's not that the story is essential to tell in full here, but once you go over the main events for Cambridge Five you should tell us who Kim Philby got killed and how. At times the book would just mention a name of a spy who actually got executed, but just tell us Kim Philby gave info to USSR to make him go away. Not going into the horrible executions or kidnappings caused by this. Details we do know about. This background info would make readers understand what was going on and how top spies worked. Instead it's quite perplexing and unfinished for newcomers to the story that will often just be overly confused by this all. Still, it's fun even if you are confused.
I would recommend reading or listening to A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal
Make sure to read that book before this one. It will make 100% sence. Otherwise you are just reading a small story about some 5th spy when not even knowing about the 4 bigger names. This is basically extra reading material for us who adore all this spy work. But the title itself reveals what it is. It's a follow-up to a much bigger story. And a small follow up at that. But I personally am satisfied. I knew this wasn't a big story and already knew many details so I could understand his vague points. Highly recommended as an audiobook even though it is a bit short and small.
September 22, 2022
A welcome addition to the literature on the Cambridge 5, this biography of the claimed fifth man is terrifically readable, engaging and concise. The introduction acknowledges there are still limitations on evidence from respective archives to draw firm conclusions to rebuff or support for example Cairncross' own claims in his memoir, but Chris Smith does a splendid job placing the facts of his life in the historical and social contexts of his time.
This includes setting the environmental background of Cairncross' upbringing in Glasgow, the upper class elitism that he rubbed up against when he went to Cambridge, a fact he found aggravating throughout his life and the social and political contexts that probably proved particularly formative. It seems perfectly likely that his desire to work with the Soviets was genuinely at least partly motivated from a strongly anti-fascist, anti-Nazi perspective. Other questions are of course harder to answer, but Smith does an excellent job of laying out the various claims, by other historians, alongside the evidence, such as it is, to allow the reader to make their own determinations.
At 180 pages it is a relatively brief work, but it is never less than fascinating, informative and engaging in discussing both the spy-life and the other interests - his academic, scholarly pursuits that occupied his normal life.
The picture that emerges of the man is complex, retaining an air mystery that may only be resolved by any future openings of archive material, but still enriched by this excellently researched work. Those interested in the Cambridge 5 will find much to enjoy in this work.
This includes setting the environmental background of Cairncross' upbringing in Glasgow, the upper class elitism that he rubbed up against when he went to Cambridge, a fact he found aggravating throughout his life and the social and political contexts that probably proved particularly formative. It seems perfectly likely that his desire to work with the Soviets was genuinely at least partly motivated from a strongly anti-fascist, anti-Nazi perspective. Other questions are of course harder to answer, but Smith does an excellent job of laying out the various claims, by other historians, alongside the evidence, such as it is, to allow the reader to make their own determinations.
At 180 pages it is a relatively brief work, but it is never less than fascinating, informative and engaging in discussing both the spy-life and the other interests - his academic, scholarly pursuits that occupied his normal life.
The picture that emerges of the man is complex, retaining an air mystery that may only be resolved by any future openings of archive material, but still enriched by this excellently researched work. Those interested in the Cambridge 5 will find much to enjoy in this work.
July 20, 2023
No aporta demasiado a las biografías de los otros 4 spies de Cambridge.
Es simplemente un paso ligero por su vida, sin mucho detalle, y luego el determinar si realmente fue el quinto de Cambrdge. Que al final parece que si lo fue.
Lo que es increíble es que no cogiesen a ningún espía de Cambridge.
Entre que el jefe del M5 o M6 yo creo que er un poco comunista y lo dejó pasar y que no querían que llegase a la opinión pública la traición y el hecho de que hubiesen pasado mucha e importante información sin haber sido detenidos. Ninguno fue detenido y ninguno fue a la cárcel.
Es simplemente un paso ligero por su vida, sin mucho detalle, y luego el determinar si realmente fue el quinto de Cambrdge. Que al final parece que si lo fue.
Lo que es increíble es que no cogiesen a ningún espía de Cambridge.
Entre que el jefe del M5 o M6 yo creo que er un poco comunista y lo dejó pasar y que no querían que llegase a la opinión pública la traición y el hecho de que hubiesen pasado mucha e importante información sin haber sido detenidos. Ninguno fue detenido y ninguno fue a la cárcel.
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January 31, 2023TV special says this; facts say opposite that. Of course. One book says this; other book says opposite that. No rating given to truth of source. How are we supposed to decide when sources listed oppose?.
January 13, 2020
A very interesting book, it is still difficult to understand how much these spies gave away, I suspect Cairncross was extremely productive from a Soviet perspective.
October 18, 2022
Pfft. Says to decide yourself about agent. But sources are not rated for accuracy. TV story is fiction. Books are juxtaposed with opposite opinions. A reference to spying is not a reason to explain.
December 5, 2022
Excellent read and a worthy addition to the canon around The Cambridge Five.
July 5, 2019
A great introduction to spy history
It's an engaging account of how Cairncross arrived at Cambridge following a fairly lowly upbringing, and his subsequent attempts at managing spying with jobs at places like the Foreign Office and Bletchley. Never quite fitting in with the public school boys, and never quite getting the hang of spying, meant that his journey as a Soviet mole was bumpy to say the least. An engaging and enjoyable read!
It's an engaging account of how Cairncross arrived at Cambridge following a fairly lowly upbringing, and his subsequent attempts at managing spying with jobs at places like the Foreign Office and Bletchley. Never quite fitting in with the public school boys, and never quite getting the hang of spying, meant that his journey as a Soviet mole was bumpy to say the least. An engaging and enjoyable read!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews