Published on May 27, 2026 (Episode 456)
Introduction
In the 1930s, five young men at Cambridge University became members of the Communist Party. This is not too surprising, in retrospect; many others were doing so as well. But these five men were recruited by the intelligence services of the Soviet Union, and for seventeen years they betrayed the secrets of Britain and the United States.
They are now often referred to as the Cambridge Five. They were Kim Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross. While their story has been told and retold and retold in Britain, always as a parable of class and the establishment, my guest Antonia Senior observes that very few have looked at the story of the Cambridge Five from the other side of the relationship. “What did Stalin want from them?,” she asks. “How did they fit into Stalin’s vision, and how did they further his cause?”
About the Guest
Antonia Senior is a novelist, reviewer for The Times, and co-host of the podcast History Book Buffs alongside friend of this podcast Roger Moorhouse. Her latest book, Stalin’s Apostles: The Cambridge Five and the Making of the Soviet Empire, was recently named a finalist for the 2026 Orwell Prize. In this conversation we discuss Cambridge in the 1930s, revolutionary violence, Soviet intelligence recruitment, Stalin’s imperial ambitions, Poland, espionage, ideology, and the enduring temptation to excuse tyranny in the name of an ever-distant utopia.
For Further Investigation
Antonia Senior, Stalin’s Apostles: The Cambridge Five and the Making of the Soviet Empire (Basic Books, 2026)
George Orwell, Animal Farm (Plume, 2003)
Roger Moorhouse, The Devil’s Alliance: Hitler’s Pact with Stalin, 1939-1941 (Basic Books, 2015)
Operation Unthinkable: Documents from The National Archives, London
Robert Louis Benson and Michael Warner, eds., Venona: Soviet Espionage and the American Response, 1939–1957—Selected Documents and Messages (Joint NSA–CIA publication, August 1996), foreword by William P. Crowell.
Alexander Orlov, “The Theory and Practice of Soviet Intelligence”—Approved for Release, CIA Historical Review Program, Sept 22, 1993
Related Episodes
Red Hotel: Alan Philps on journalists, propaganda, and survival in Stalin’s Moscow
How to Win a Power Struggle: Joseph Torigian on elite conflict in the Soviet Union and China
Agent Zo: Clare Mulley on Elżbieta Zawacka, a Heroine of Poland’s Resistance against Nazis and Soviets
The Plot to Stop the Russian Revolution: Jonathan Schneer on the attempt to kill Lenin and Trotsky, and stop the Russian Revolution
Tags
Cold War; Soviet Union; Cambridge Five; Espionage; Stalinism; Intelligence History; World War II; Antonia Senior; Historical Thinking; Political Ideology
