The Afterlives of the Cambridge Spies: Project Launch and Roundtable

Register here: https://forms.office.com/e/TxVEvgjvcn

The Cambridge spy ring was one of the most audacious and controversial espionage operations of modern history, with implications that upended the mid-century intelligence community and that still echo across contemporary British culture and society. With 2026 marking seventy-five years since the first defections of the spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, this project will conduct a series of events tracking the impact of the Cambridge ring over the full political, social, and cultural landscape.

To mark the launch, the event will feature a panel of invited speakers, who will reflect upon the legacy of the spies in their respective areas of work or research. There will also be chance for Q&A with attendees.

Please note that the hybrid panel discussion runs 17.00 - 18:30, after which we will move into the in-person drinks reception in TLC101 (kindly sponsored by the Department of English Studies, Durham University).

Panel members include:

• Berenice “Berry” Burnett (doctoral candidate for War Studies at KCL working on the Cambridge spies, and a civil servant);
• Mark Dunton (Principal Records Specialist for contemporary records at The National Archives and previously lead curator for the highly successful MI5: Official Secrets exhibition in 2025);
• Antonia Senior (writer, journalist, podcaster, book critic at The Times and author of forthcoming book Stalin’s Apostles); and
• John Taylor (former member of the Foreign Office, author, lecturer and advisor on handling human sources of secret intelligence).

This event will be chaired and introduced by the Project Leads, James Smith (Professor, English Studies, Durham University) and Michael Goodman (Professor & Director of the King’s Centre for the Study of Intelligence).

See further details about the project at: https://kcsi.uk/the-afterlives-of-the-cambridge-spies