"Anthony Blunt: His lives" by Miranda Carter (500 pages) -
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- čas přidán 19. 11. 2023
- Your eyes do not deceive you - this is a review of a spy biography of Anthony Blunt, the "Fourth Man" in the Cambridge Spy Ring of the 1950s.
Filmed in surround vision, this experimental microfilm was smuggled out of the shoeshop in the heel of a size 5 suede ankle boot. The sequel was in the other boot, but it was mislaid.
While the international search for that boot continues, please listen to this and decide if it's a book you would like to read? Clues may be provided.
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Video announcing the spyfest Dr-November event:
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Book reviewed:
Miranda Carter, "Anthony Blunt: his lives" (Macmillan, 2001)
Would be particularly good for anyone already reading about the Cambridge Ring of spies in the 1940s/50s.
I enjoyed the art history references, the colourful descriptions of the Courtauld Institute and references to Louis MacNeice (fellow schoolboy and poet).
Oh how interesting Heather I think I'd like to read it, he seems an interesting person indeed 👍
I think you'll get a lot out of it since you're already reading in this area, and have heard of many of the key players - that was all new to me. It's very good at drawing out how the lives overlap and goes towards explaining motivations. Well written. (I have just DNF'd a "historical fiction" of Moura Budberg because although it covers the same time in London & includes photos of Burgess & Blunt, it's not the same standard of writing.)
Hi Heather - I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts about this book! I read it a couple of years ago & found it very interesting. As you say Miranda Carter writes very well & her extensive research was evident on every page. The portrait presented such a complex man who lived a very compartmentalized life. Interesting but not someone you’d want to know. Thanks again!
I'm so glad you took the time to make these comments, because they chime with mine, so I feel I did give fair feedback and not just one person's unrepresentative view. "Compartmentalized" was the word which Miranda kept using for his life. Well done on sticking through the reading of such a big book when the main character is not very likeable - testament to Miranda Carter's good writing!
Is the ghostly aesthetic deliberate or ... ?
no, you don't need to go to the opticians!-) It's a reference to the idea and subtitle of the books "His liveS." The spy lives several different identities, so I reflected that in the video.