About the Author

Stewart Purvis began his career as one of the BBC's first news trainees, going on to become Editor-in-Chief of Channel 4 News and, ultimately, Chief Executive of ITN. In 2003, he became City University London's first Professor of Television Journalism and a Visiting Professor of Broadcast Media at Oxford University. He is a broadcaster on media matters, appearing regularly on BBC Radio 4's Media Show and on Sky News, the BBC News channel and LBC. His career has won him a number of awards, including two BAFTAs. He received a CBE in 2000 for services to broadcasting and in 2009 he was awarded the Royal Television Society Gold Medal for an outstanding contribution to television.;Jeff Hulbert is a media historian who initially specialised in cinema newsreels and television news, but has become increasingly interested in the ways in which the media and political worlds collide. He has managed two publicly funded film and television history projects and is currently an honorary research fellow in the journalism department at City University London.

Reviews

"A truly extraordinary tale of the enigma that was Guy Burgess" - Michael Dobbs, author of House of Cards; "Worldwide interest in this most important spy continues ... The remarkable new research by Purvis and Hulbert shows that, had his games of espionage succeeded, Guy Burgess could have changed history." - Mark Birdsall, Eye Spy Intelligence Magazine; "A highly readable account of probably the most colourful - and self-destructive - figure in twentieth-century espionage. Purvis and Hulbert ably bring to life the story of the man with infinite influential connections but the most unsuitable personal qualities with which to ply his trade as a key Russian agent." - Brian Gray, Spies & Shadows TV; "Purvis and Hulbert have uncovered stunning new information which proves without a shadow of a doubt that the vastly underestimated Guy Burgess was one of Moscow's most important Cold War spies." - Michael Smith, Editor of The Secret Agent's Bedside Reader; "Adds much to a familiar story thanks to newly released files ... [Stewart Purvis and Jeff Hulbert's] revelations leave us all the more astonished that such a smelly, scruffy, lying, gabby, promiscuous, drunken slob could penetrate the heart of the establishment without anyone apparently noticing that he was also a Soviet masterspy." - The Observer; "[An] excellent biography." - Financial Times