Last of the Cold War Spies : The Life of Michael Straight - The Only American in Britain's Cambridge Spy Ring

Destiny dictator -- Birth, death, and circumstance -- Marx and Sparks -- Cambridge consolidation -- In the ring -- Graduate in the art of deception -- Green spy -- The informants -- A defensive measure -- New republic, old ways -- Blunt's royal mission -- Political path to nowhere -- Try of the Trojan -- Sideshow sufferings -- Barkovsky and the bomb spies -- The anti-Communist -- The Korean war spies -- Family feud -- A taxing time -- More Moscow connections -- Career change -- Threats from the past -- First in ... -- Blunt revelations -- Arts at last -- A reunion of old comrades -- Split image of a spy.

The most damaging spy network of the Cold War—the infamous Cambridge Spy Ring—was comprised of several powerful and influential British citizens—and one American, Michael Straight. Born to a wealthy New England family, Straight attended Cambridge University in the 1930s, and there he fell in with the notorious circle of young men working for Soviet intelligence —Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, Anthony Blunt, and Kim Philby, who was to become the most famous spy of the century.For the next several decades, Michael Straight led a secret life: While working at the State Department, he passed intelligence reports to a Russian agent; while running his family’s magazine, The New Republic, he funded several communist fronts; and while serving U.S. presidents, including John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, he continued to meet with agents around the world.Despite Michael Straight’s 1963 "confession” to the FBI that his covert activity ceased in 1941, investigative journalist and author Roland Perry has unearthed a different story. Incorporating material from exclusive interviews with Michael Straight, members of his family, and former KGB agents (Perry has been careful to corroborate all KGB-supplied information), as well as archival research from the CIA, FBI, and Soviet intelligence, Perry presents a full and complete portrait of Michael Straight, the last of the Cold War spies.

"The most damaging spy network of the Cold War, the infamous Cambridge Spy Ring, was comprised of several powerful and influential British citizens - and one American, Michael Straight (1916-2004). Born to a wealthy New England family, Straight attended Cambridge University in the 1930s and fell in with the notorious circle of young men working for Soviet intelligence: Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, Anthony Blunt, and Kim Philby, who was to become the most famous spy of the century." "For the next several decades, Michael Straight led a secret life. While working at the State Department, he passed intelligence reports to a Russian agent; while running his family's magazine, The New Republic, he funded several communist fronts; and while serving U.S. presidents, including John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, he continued to meet with agents around the world." "Despite Michael Straight's 1963 "confession" to the FBI that his covert activity ceased in 1941, investigative journalist and author Roland Perry has unearthed a different story. Incorporating material from exclusive interviews with former CIA and KGB agents, and drawing on archival research from CIA, FBI, and Soviet intelligence files, Perry presents a full and complete portrait of Michael Straight - the last of the Cold War spies."--Jacket The most damaging spy network of the Cold War - the infamous Cambridge Spy Ring - was comprised of several powerful and influential British citizens, and one American, Michael Straight. Incorporating material from interviews with Michael Straight, members of his family and former KGB agents, this work presents a portrait of Michael Straight. Recounts the life of Michael Straight, a former Cambridge student, State Department official, and editor of the "New Repbulic" who was linked to the Philby-Blunt spy ring.

The full and complete portrait of Michael Straight, a secret agent and last of the Cold War spies.