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Talk

Stalin's Apostles: The Cambridge Five and the making of the Soviet Empire

Join us for an unflinching reassessment of the Cambridge Five spy ring.

Date
9 September 2026
Location
Online

Harold ‘Kim’ Philby, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross formed the most infamous spy ring of the 20th century. Known as the Cambridge Five, they betrayed their country and supplied highly classified information to Stalin’s Soviet Union from the 1930s to 1951. Often presented as suave, cunning malcontents in a stuffy establishment, the true extent of their crimes is often underplayed. In reality, their actions caused enormous suffering, and they were responsible for the deaths of thousands of men and women fighting against Soviet domination.

Join author Antonia Senior for a chilling exploration of the true impact of the Cambridge Five using material from recently declassified files.

Event details

Date
9 September 2026, 19:30 to 20:30
Price
Free

Pay what you can

Location
Online, Live-streamed on Vimeo

Dates for this event

9 September 2026

  • 19:30 to 20:30

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How to join online

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This event will be live streamed on the website of our streaming service, Vimeo.

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Watch after the event

This talk will be available to watch after the event, using the same link you will receive to join it live. It will remain available for a limited period of 48 hours after the event has finished, unless otherwise stated.

Speakers

  • Antonia Senior

    Writer, critic and journalist

    Antonia Senior is a writer, critic and journalist. She writes for The Times and has also written for The Guardian and The Spectator. She is also co-host of The History Book Buffs.