Overview

The first biography of John Cairncross, the fifth member of the Cambridge spy ring and colleague of Alan Turing. 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. AUTHOR: Chris Smith is a lecturer in Modern British and European History at the University of Kent. He has published a monograph (with Palgrave Macmillan, entitled The Hidden History of Bletchley Park) on the history of Bletchley Park and several related articles in journals, not least History of Science. As a professional academic historian he has extensive experience of lecturing and has also appeared on BBC Radio 4's Making History.

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The Last Cambridge Spy is not just a fascinating, well-placed book about an interesting individual, but is also invites us to re-appraise the very idea of the 'Cambridge spy ring' -- Sir Dermot Turing Chris Smith offer us a remarkable account of John Cairncross...he has captured him at last - a riveting read -- Professor Richard Aldrich

Author Information

DR CHRIS SMITH is a Lecturer in History at Coventry University. He is the author of The Hidden History of Bletchley Park (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) as well as several related articles that have been published in journals such as History of Science.

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