23 DECEMBER 1955, Page 8

I HAVE been reading The Great Spy Scandal, a comprehensive

account of the Burgess-Maclean case, published by the Daily Express at 5s. It contains a facsimile of the Express reporter's shorthand notes of the disputed interview with Mrs. Maclean; and although, of course, they are not proof positive that the interview took place (they might have been written up after- wards) they have a definitely genuine air about them. Taken in conjunction with the experience of the Telegraph reporter, they provide evidence that would satisfy any but the most preju- diced that Mrs. Maclean was deliberately using the stories of press persecution for her own and for Communist Party ends.