Brilliantly fluent...fascinating...[Philipps] writes so cleanly, and at such a clip, handling the big scenes with aplomb...This biography first grips and then lingers long in the mind. It is a page-turner of the most empathetic kind. -- Rachel Cooke * Guardian *
Superb...full of contemporary relevance... Philipps relates the complex narrative of Maclean's treason...with tremendous aplomb, limpidity and acuity -- WILLIAM BOYD * New Statesman *
With A Spy Named Orphan, the last piece of this bizarre jigsaw falls into place. The outline story is familiar, but the amount of new detail here - on Maclean's personal, professional, and secret lives - exceeds all expectations. Roland Philipps has managed to make the new material come alive by relating it intimately to its historical context, of which he has a deep and sympathetic understanding. -- Sebastian Faulks, author of BIRDSONG
The definitive account of the life of a gifted traitor... Impressive... By drawing on a wealth of previously classified material, Philipps weaves a gripping tale of misplaced loyalty, intrigue and betrayal that is unlikely to be bettered -- Dominic Midgley * Daily Express *
Fascinating and page-turning. An exceptional story of espionage and betrayal, thrillingly told. I devoured it. -- Philippe Sands, winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for EAST WEST STREET
A lively and beautifully engineered biography -- John Banville
Philipps... is punchy and hard-nosed in his handling of facts, but pliant, imaginative and humane in his understanding of motives and emotions -- Richard Davenport-Hines * Guardian *
Fresh and thought-provoking throughout... rich in archive material -- Giles Udy * The Times *
A cracking story... An impressively researched and smoothly polished debut... persuasive.. [an] excellent book -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *
A masterpiece. The rich renderings of secret assignations, smuggled documents, damning intelligence and brilliant code-breaking will delight lovers of fiction and non-fiction alike. Picture Erik Larson meets John le Carre and you have only begun to scratch the surface of this absolutely gripping book. -- Brad Thor, author of international bestseller SPYMASTER
An adroit, deeply researched and richly embroidered portrait of Maclean -- Ferdinand Mount * Prospect *
Hugely impressive - by an historian who is a master of storytelling and empathy. A rare combination. -- Dame Carmen Callil
What great storytelling. Maclean may have been a traitor but his slow slide to self-destruction has all the elements of tragedy. I couldn't put it down. -- Peter Snow
Donald Maclean was arguably the most valuable, and certainly the most troubled, of the Cambridge spies. Roland Philipps knows the world that formed him and has given us the fullest account we've yet had not only of his treason but of the conflicted man who committed it. -- Joseph Kanon, author of DEFECTORS
Gripping from start to finish -- Sara Wheeler, author of O MY AMERICA!
Magisterial. The biography of Maclean we have all been waiting for -- Charles Cumming, author of the Thomas Kell series
Admirable... [a] compassionate, absorbing book -- Miranda Carter * The Oldie *
[A] persuasive and polished biography * Sunday Times *
Roland Philipps illuminates, in both broad and subtle strokes -- John Lloyd * Financial Times *
Philipps does an admirable job of piecing together the spy's tale -- Mary Jo Murphy * Washington Post Sunday *
