The history of this book is as exciting as its subject. The High Court Justice of Great Britian issued an injunction against its publication. The officers of MI5 acted in concert against it. But as had been the case with Soviet moles deep in their own apparatus--Burgess, MacLean, Philby, Blunt--it was too little, too late. The American publishers had spirited a copy to New York.

Nigel West details the failures of British Intelligence to detect Soviet spies in its own ranks, a failure he contends continues to this day. Case by case, THE CIRCUS shows how post-war intelligence services were riddled by spies who compromised Western secrets, gave the Soviets advantages worth billions of dollars and years of time, and contributed markedly to the West's problems of defense.

"If rage is the condition of futile, frantic and frustrated anguish, this book provokes it." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)