Speaker Shawnna Morris will discuss the formation of the Cambridge Spy Ring which began with the recruitment of Kim Philby, followed by Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross, all elite graduates of Cambridge University. They began their careers during the interwar period, during which Great Britain experienced mass unemployment and economic depression. It was also the Stalinist era, the most brutal period in Soviet history. Their spying continued through the Second World War and into the Cold War, as their influence and access grew to alarming levels. Due to their accomplishments and, most importantly, their connections, the Cambridge spies were able to commit the longest running and most destructive espionage operation in British history. More shocking still, none were ever prosecuted for their treasonous crimes. The history of the Cambridge Spy Ring is well-known across the pond, but many Americans have never heard of them. Their actions during the early years of the Cold War, particularly those of Kim Philby and Donald Maclean, caused a rift in the intelligence community between the Americans and the British. The failure of British intelligence and law enforcement to prosecute them left a lasting wound on the Anglo-American "Special Relationship" that never fully healed.