Michael Frayn, An English Affair

Available for over a year

At the height of the cold war in the early 60s, as the established order was challenged as never before, Britons paid rapt attention to a sordid affair which involved a cabinet minister, a showgirl and a Soviet naval attache.In Night Waves, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Profumo affair, Matthew Sweet talks to Richard Davenport-Hines whose new account of the scandal, An English Affair, offers a new perspective in examining the role of the tabloid hacks,property developers and hangers on whose roles, in the build up to the drama's deadly climax, have never been fully realised.