THE CLIMATE OF TREASON: Five Who Spied for Russia.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,reprint. [First published 1979 (UK),reprinted November,1979 (x3),then this edn December,in 1979.] VG/NFINE. No owner inscrptn no price-clip to dw/dj - absence of publisher's price.These are generally believed to be export edns which are released before the trade edn in the country of origin.Bright,crisp, clean,glossy,wrap-around white background with montaged (3 visible and 2 obscured),thumbnail b/w portrait photographs of the book's subjects to the front panel of dw/dj,with capitalised,brown-lettered author name and black-lettered title with dark grey shadow outlining and brown lettered sub-title,and an orange+white buildings facade illustration,spine/backstrip with a brown single line-bordered panel with black+brown lettered author name and title respectively and a black lillustrated+lettered publisher's colophon to foot of same,rear panel with black-lettered montaged newspaper headlines of the scandal. Negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present.Top+fore-edges inevitably aged/toned and with minor sporadic dust-flecking to either; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips - appears unread other than my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,unblemished, sharp-cornered,original plain light brown cloth boards with bright, crisp,blocked gilt lettered spine/backstrip and clean plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,reprint,10-504pp [paginated] includes a Prologue,11 chapters,8pp contemporary b/w biographical photographs in 1 block,between pp224/25,an Epilogue,Notes and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,and separate contents+illustrations lists/tables. Visually the exterior appearance is more than acceptable,and even internally,the book is in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its age. It is only the exterior faults that prevents a slightly higher grading for the book. Despite them, it really is still an exceptional copy for shelf display. How did it happen that three young men, all contemporaries, all members of the English upper class, all products of public schools and Cambridge University, should join the profession in the service of the Soviet Union and, over a period of years, consistently betray their country? The author looks at the political and social background to the whole amazing episode. Philby, Burgess and Maclean are the best-known of the undergraduates recruited by the Communist Party at Cambridge in the 1930s, because they were the extreme cases, the men who actually spied against their country. The author strongly believed that Queen Elizabeth's art adviser, Anthony Blunt, was the "Fourth Man" in the Cambridge spy ring. But, apparently fearing a libel suit, he referred to Blunt as "Maurice." In a dramatic announcement to Parliament in November 1979, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher confirmed that "Maurice" was, indeed, Anthony Blunt. But so far as membership of the Party was concerned,they were only the tip of the iceberg.In making his detailed researches,the author has not only come up with some fascinating answers,but has also uncovered other secret agents of the Soviet Union,the 4th man 'Maurice' and even a 5th man,'Basil', an eminent British atomic scientist who was recruited by the Russians to advise Maclean in Washington about the secrets they needed to know and who is now an American citizen. Boyle makes it clear that the full facts can never be told until the archives of the KGB and the British Secret Service are thrown open to public scrutiny.Until that unlikely day,his book will remain the generl reader's definitive account (then 1979) of this absorbing historical puzzle while at the same time producing much new evidence for historians. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence, then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.