As Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, Director of the Courtauld Institute and the foremost art historian of his generation, Anthony Blunt seemed an absolute pillar of the establishment. Then in 1979 he was exposed as one of  the infamous Cambridge spies, who had handed over British intelligence secrets to the Soviet Russia during the second world war. His reputation was utterly destroyed. He became a hate figure villified by the tabloids, while at the same time remaining oddly enigmatic. Who was Anthony Blunt? What had motivated him? Miranda Carter’s brilliantly insightful biography gives us a vivid portrait of a human paradox and the worlds — Cambridge in the 1930s, MI5 in the 1940s, academic and high society London in the 1950s — he inhabited. ‘Miranda Carter’s skill at scouring the different compartments of Blunt’s life is deeply impressive’ — Julan Barnes, New Yorker; ‘A triumphant piece of research, and at the same time a damning indictment.’ — Anita Brookner, Spectator; ‘An incredible feat of unmasking and revelation; the result is a meticulous, judicious, and ultimately moving account of Blunt’s life….A profound study.’ — Newsday. Winner of the Orwell Prize 2002.