GORDON PARSONS applauds a marvellous story of human ingenuity and youthful determination, well served by a large and talented company
Breaking the circle
NICK WRIGHT recommends a biography of the anti-fascist who passed secrets to the Soviets which challenges conventional accounts
CRITICAL JUNCTURE : John Cairncross’s information proved crucial to Soviet forces (pictured) at the Balttle of Kursk
SUSAN DARLINGTON applauds bold choices that force the audience to re-examine a familiar comedy
PETER MASON relishes a quirky and highly entertaining take on Shakespeare’s tragicomedy
New releases from Bill Callahan, The Delines, and Beck
STEPHANIE DENNISON and ALFREDO LUIZ DE OLIVEIRA SUPPIA explain the political context of The Secret Agent, a gripping thriller that reminds us why academic freedom needs protecting
TONY BURKE speaks to producer and broadcaster LUCY DURAN about her new project — Guitari Baro
Agent Moliere: The Life of John Cairncross, the Fifth Man of the Cambridge Spy Circle
by Geoff Andrews
(Bloomsbury, £20)
THE ANTI-FASCIST endeavours of the bourgeois spies for the Comintern — the Communist International — before, during and after the second world war continue to grip the imagination.
Similar stories
Ben Cowles speaks with IAN ‘TREE’ ROBINSON and ANDY DAVIES, two of the string pullers behind the Manchester Punk Festival, ahead of its 10th year show later this month
RON JACOBS welcomes the long overdue translation of an epic work that chronicles resistance to fascism during WWII
NICK WRIGHT delicately unpicks the eloquent writings on art of an intellectual pessimist who wears his Marxism lightly
JOHN GREEN surveys the remarkable career of screenwriter Malcolm Hulke and the essential part played by his membership of the Communist Party