Mr Churchill and Herr Beans
January 24, 2014 12:53 PM   Subscribe

The only known recording of the Cambridge spy Guy Burgess, made just before he defected to Russia in 1951, has been recovered from FBI files by researchers at City University London. Speaking late at night, and clearly the worse for drink, Burgess describes his meeting with Winston Churchill in September 1938, shortly after the Munich Agreement, and recreates Churchill's side of the story with a number of amusing impressions.
posted by verstegan (6 comments total) 19 users marked this as a favorite
 
Oh, how I live for audio archaeology. Thanks!
posted by mykescipark at 1:33 PM on January 24, 2014


This is fantastic! What a voice (and what a Churchill impersonation)!

I don't have a Soundcloud account, so that link wasn't too useful, but I think the file is included in the other links. The video in the second link is definitely with the time to watch.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:34 PM on January 24, 2014


What a name-dropping, insufferable, traitorous prick Burgess was. Interesting though.
posted by unliteral at 2:43 PM on January 24, 2014


He voice reminds me of Peter Sellars' Hercules Grytpype-Thynne.
posted by benito.strauss at 3:12 PM on January 24, 2014


Cool find! He is pretty unbearable, isn't he? So proud of his friends and his little voices and his little jokes. His important story where he pleases Winston Churchill.
posted by forgetful snow at 11:37 PM on January 24, 2014


Good idea getting way fucked up before doing the Churchill imitation.
posted by telstar at 12:13 PM on January 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


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