The Secret Worlds of Stephen Ward: Sex, Scandal, and Deadly Secrets in the Profumo Affair

A tour de force account of seduction, power, and betrayal in the biggest political sex scandal of its age The Profumo Affair rocked the British establishment like no scandal before or since. The Tory war minister, John Profumo, had taken up with a teenager named Christine Keeler, who was also sleeping with a Soviet intelligence agent. The ensuing inquiry revealed a hidden underworld in which men of the ruling classes and politicians cavorted with prostitutes at orgies. The revelations shook the British government and sent shock waves all the way to the Kennedy White House. The man at the center of the storm was Dr. Stephen Ward. Ward was a successful doctor to the rich and powerful, a talented artist who drew portraits of many of his famous patients and fixed up prominent men with young women. He was also a pawn, ruthlessly exploited by the intelligence agencies. When the Profumo Affair threatened the government, Ward became a scapegoat, hounded to death-and perhaps murdered. For the first time, The Secret Worlds of Stephen Ward reveals the names that could not be exposed and the truths that could not be told until now. "The research is outstanding, the whole story is told in full . . . unputdownable." -Charles Bates, former assistant director of the FBI "A convincing picture of how the Establishment closed ranks." -The Spectator "Juicy . . . admirable sleuthing." -London Review of Books "Debauchery, class antagonism and espionage, a potent formula for a bestseller." -Irish Times "An irreverent exposé of outrageous scope, even by the hypocritical standards of the British Establishment." -Sunday Tribune (Ireland) "A thoroughly gripping true life thriller." -Eastern Daily Press Anthony Summers is the bestselling author of eight nonfiction books. His investigative books include Not in Your Lifetime, the critically acclaimed book about the assassination of John F. Kennedy; Official & Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover; and most recently The Eleventh Day, on the 9/11 attacks-a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for History. Stephen Dorril is the author of MI6: Fifty Years of Special Operations and other authoritative books on intelligence.