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In 1963, it was learned that Defence Minister, John Profumo, had had an affair with 19-year old Christine Keeler who was also seeing a Soviet diplomat and suspected spy, Eugene Ivanov. The resulting scandal saw the death, an apparent suicide, of society osteopath Stephen Ward (who brought them together) and is widely regarded as contributing to the resignation of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan through ill health and the defeat of the Tory government at the next election - though the public was assured that national security had not been damaged.
This book produces evidence that only a fraction of the story was made known at the time or revealed by the trial of Ward for prostitution. The involvement of MI5, the use of sex to procure defections, suspicions that Ward was murdered, and many other aspects of the case are produced here as links in a chain that leads right back to President Kennedy.
book reviews
- Charles Bates, former Assistant Director of the FBI
'The research is outstanding, the whole story is told in full ... unputadownable.' - Irish Times
'Debaucahery, class antagonism and espionage, a potent formula for a bestseller.' - Tribune
'Quite exceptional .. a book which our rulers must loathe ... contains a really juicy set of revelations.'
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