Donald Maclean, code name Orphan, was the most enigmatic member of the infamous Cambridge spies. Like the rest of that extraordinary group, Maclean was recruited while at university to become a mole for Russia’s Communist regime during the Cold War, leaking huge amounts of top-secret British intelligence before he was forced to disappear. On a damp day in April this year, author Roland Phillipps took Alex Clark on a tour of Whitehall, where Donald worked for the Foreign Office and spied for the Russians, to explainwhy he decided to write A Spy Named Orphan, and to give us an insight into what made Maclean go from gifted diplomat to dangerous traitor.

A Spy Named Orphan, The Enigma of Donald Maclean by Roland Philipps http://po.st/VcqTxR

Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/vintagebooks

Sign up to our bookish newsletter to hear all about our new releases, see exclusive extracts and win prizes: po.st/vintagenewsletter

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.