This is a biography of one of the last of the ideological spies, belonging to the important group the author calls the Cambridge Comintern. Robert Cecil, a close acquaintance of Maclean at Cambridge and in the Diplomatic Service with him at the time of his defection, also knew Philby, Blunt and Burgess. He sees Maclean as Stalin's best source in Washington from 1944-48, where decisions about the post-war world were being made. A Divided Life also aims to shed light on Maclean's breakdown in Cairo and the disastrous impact on Anglo-American relations of his defection in 1951. Robert Cecil was created a Companion of St Michael and St George in 1959. He has also written The myth of the Master Race and Hitler's Decision to Invade Russia.