When the emotion does come out, it is often bitterness at the way that he has been portrayed. The preface, written in hand in black ink, concludes: ‘It is written for my friends, who have stood by me with unbelievable affection and loyalty, and for the members of the public who are I believe more numerous than might be supposed, who want to know the truth about my life and actions, as opposed to the versions which have been served up to them by the press – I do not say “the gutter press” because that would imply that some parts of the press were not of the gutter.’

The Archangel was a real ship. HMS Royal Sovereign, a Revenge-class battleship, was lent to the Soviet Navy to protect the Arctic transports. The Soviets renamed her the Archangelsk. After the War, she was handed back to Britain.

Arthur Wynn was the founder of the Oxford Spy Ring – a group less prominent than their Cambridge counterparts but operational. He was recruited by Edith Tudor-Hart, who had also recruited Kim Philby. He was not exposed until the 1990s. John Cairncross was a self-confessed Soviet spy who may – or may not – have been the ‘fifth man’ in the Cambridge ring.

Lillian Hall-Davis was a star of the silent era. She took her own life in 1933.

The 1938 meeting between Winston Churchill and Guy Burgess at Churchill’s country home was described by Burgess in 1951, with a recording taken in which he imitates Churchill’s distinctive drawl.

No. 60 Great Queen Street, London, is the Freemasons’ Hall, home to the United Grand Lodge of England, a very austere-looking building.

Dr Max Jacobson – aka ‘Dr Feelgood’ – was responsible for some of the liveliest Hollywood performances from the 1940s until the 1960s. His ‘vitamin injections’ – which were largely amphetamine sulphate – kept actors and actresses working with smiles on their faces. His clients included Bogart and Bacall, Marilyn, Elvis and JFK. In 1969 one of his clients died of an overdose and his medical licence was eventually suspended.

The London Post Office Railway operated from 1927 until 2003.

London’s Great Smog of 5–9 December 1952 is believed to have killed more than 10,000 people, mostly through respiratory problems. At its worst, visibility could be as low as a single metre. Pea Soupers – so-called because the smog had a green-yellow tinge – had been common since the Victorian era, but this was the worst ever recorded.

Acknowledgements

First to Claire McGowan, Hannah Boardman and Ed Latham, who read early drafts of this book and gave some vital pointers. Also Dr Peter Mann, who advised on the medical aspects. My agent, Simon Trewin, and editors, Emad Akhtar and Joel Richardson, whose excellent ideas I have willingly passed off as my own.

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