Archive · 7 Aug 2026
Master of Lies: New Book Unravels Anthony Blunt's Soviet Espionage
A long time ago, some students at Cambridge University in England decided to become spies for a different country, the Soviet Union.
They still worked for the British government, but they secretly shared its secrets.
This group became known as the Cambridge Five.
One of them, Anthony Blunt, was a famous art expert who looked after Queen Elizabeth II's paintings.
Blunt helped choose and manage the other spies in the group.
He even shared secrets with powerful leaders like Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler.
In 1964, he told British intelligence that he had been a spy, and they promised not to punish him.
In 1979, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced to everyone that Blunt was a traitor.
A writer named Piers Blofeld wrote a new book about this story called 'Master of Lies.'
The book shows how spies can hide in important places and how lies and secrets can change history.
Piers Blofeld, a literary agent, chronicles Anthony Blunt's Soviet espionage in 'Master of Lies,' a new biography published by Quercus.
Blunt confessed to spying for the Soviet Union in 1964 in exchange for immunity and was denounced as a Russian spy and traitor by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1979.
Blunt recruited and managed his fellow spies; Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess and Kim Philby defected to Moscow, and John Cairncross was the alleged fifth member.
The spy ring's story inspired John le Carré's 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' and Graham Greene's 'The Human Factor.'
Drawing on newly released files, Blofeld builds on Miranda Carter's earlier biography but concedes he must speculate because many files remain inaccessible.
- Who
- Anthony Blunt, art historian and Soviet spy in the Cambridge Five, and Piers Blofeld, author of the new biography 'Master of Lies: How Anthony Blunt's Treachery Changed Our World.'
- What
- The publication of a biography that re-examines Blunt's treachery, his recruitment of fellow spies, and his network of elite British contacts, based partly on newly released files.
- When
- The book is newly published; Blunt confessed to espionage in 1964 and was denounced by Margaret Thatcher in 1979.
- Where
- Britain — rooted in the radical, left-wing atmosphere of 1930s Cambridge University and the British intelligence establishment (MI5 and MI6).
- Why
- To offer a fresh perspective on the widely known Cambridge Five story and to explore the deceptions that continue to shape how people view the world.
- Book title
- Master of Lies: How Anthony Blunt's Treachery Changed Our World
- Author
- Piers Blofeld (literary agent by profession)
- Publisher
- Quercus
- Price
- Rs 899
- Subject
- Anthony Blunt and the Cambridge Five Soviet spy ring
- Confession
- Blunt confessed to spying in 1964 in exchange for immunity from prosecution
- Public denunciation
- Margaret Thatcher called Blunt a Russian spy and traitor in Parliament in 1979
- Blunt's royal role
- Surveyor of the British monarch's pictures and director of the Courtauld Institute of Art in London; concealed documents linking British royalty to German fascists, earning Queen Elizabeth II's gratitude