The March Of Time

Masterspy Alexander Orlov was born in Russia in 1898. His guerrilla activities during and after the Great War caught the attention of Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Soviet secret police. Orlov proved a natural spy, playing a leading role in the creation of the UK's Cambridge network (Philby, Burgess, Maclean and Blunt) as well as the Berlin section of the Red Orchestra, a band of underground agents whose feats helped determine the outcome of the Second World War and its Cold War aftermath. Falling foul of Stalin, he fled to the USA via France and was regarded as a splendid catch by American intelligence officials who constantly debriefed him. Yet he never betrayed the 60-odd moles of whom he had personal knowledge - knowledge that kept KGB hit-men at bay. This is his story, a unique insight into the murky world of intelligence at the highest level.