Unravelling the life, character and motivations of the last known Cold War double agent, George Blake, The Happy Traitor paints a chilling portrait of a thoughtful and idealistic man, responsible for passing on key intelligence, including the identities of hundreds of British agents, to the Soviets. George Blake was the last remaining Cold War spy. As a Senior Officer in the British Intelligence Service who was double agent for the Soviet Union, his actions had devastating consequences for Britain. Through a combination of personal interviews, research and unique access to Stasi records, journalist Simon Kuper unravels who Blake truly was, what he was capable of, and why he did it.

SIMON KUPER is a weekly columnist for the Financial Times, and author of books including The Football Men, Soccernomics, and Football Against the Enemy.

He will be in conversation with:

Dr Helen Fry, historian and author of MI9: A History of The Secret Service for Escape & Evasion; and The Walls Have Ears; ambassador for The Museum of Military Intelligence, and President of the Friends of the National Archives.

Ricardo Soares de Oliveira (St Peter’s College, Oxford), Professor of African Politics

Rana Mitter (St Cross College, Oxford), Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China