PDF A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by Ben Macintyre in History

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179 of 190 people found the following review helpful. A Spy Among FriendsBy S RiazBen Macintyre is a great writer and; in this latest book; he has turned his attention to Kim Philby – one of the Cambridge Spies. Historically; this book may not offer much that is new; but it does tell the story from a different viewpoint ; that of his friendships; most notably with Nicholas Elliott. In other words; this is not really a straight-forward biography of Philby; but focuses on his personality and on the Old Boy network that enabled him to evade detection for so long. The book begins with the meeting between Philby and Elliott in Beirut in January; 1963; with Elliott confronting his former friend about his betrayal of his country and trying to obtain a confession. He must certainly have felt betrayed personally too; as he had done much to protect Philby from earlier suspicions by MI5 – defending and helping him when he was in difficulty.This fascinating account looks at the early life of both men; their meeting during WWII and their career in the Secret Intelligence Service. Kim Philby was; from the beginning; a Soviet agent. Along with the Cambridge Spies; Guy Burgess; Donald Maclean; Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross; he was so successful that his Soviet spymasters suspected him of being a double agent. As well as being a close friend of Elliott; he also became the mentor of James Jesus Angleton; an American and one of the most powerful spies in history. The Old Boy network which had brought both Elliott and Philby into the intelligence service meant that while agents were secretive outside of their immediate circle; they were horribly indiscreet within it; trusting on bonds of class and social networking to protect them.During this book; we read of Elliott’s and Philby’s career; and personal life; including the jaw dropping appointment of Philby as head of the Soviet Section. As the Second World War ended and the Cold War began; Philby was able to inform Moscow of exactly what Britain was doing to counter Soviet espionage and; indeed; their own espionage efforts against Moscow. There is no doubt that Philby’s actions were an odd mix of defiant belief in the Soviet Union and an inability to take responsibility for his own actions. His passing of information to his Soviet masters led to many people losing their lives. Yet; despite his own reluctance to finally defect to Russia (he called himself a ‘Russian’ but lived there as an almost stereotypical Englishman) he was insistent that he had carried out instructions out of a (misguided) loyalty and was seemingly untroubled about the; often terrible; consequences. Also; although he was constantly loyal to Russia; he rarely spoke of politics. It was as though; having decided on his beliefs; he simply put them out of his mind and stayed true to them; despite any conflicting; or disturbing; evidence – such as the disappearance of successive Soviet spymasters that he looked up to and respected.As Kim Philby’s life descended into the drama of defection; Macintyre asks whether he was; in fact; allowed to escape. Would his possible trial been such an embarrassment to the British government that he was simply given the chance to leave? However; the real core of this book is his friendship with Nicholas Elliott and the two men are almost given equal space. Angleton comes to the fore when Philby is in the States; and is important to the book; but the central relationship was Philby and Elliott. Personally; I found this a really interesting read and there is an enjoyable afterword; written by John le Carre. It is impossible to defend Kim Philby for his actions; but his story – both personal and as a spy – are certainly larger than life. If you have read anything by Ben Macintyre before; you will know that this is a not a dry and academic account; but reads almost like a spy novel. If you were not aware that it is factual; you would assume that this astonishing account was pure fiction – but it is certainly a riveting read and another well written and entertaining book from the talented Ben Macintyre.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. The Greatest Spy Ever?By Mal WarwickMention his name in the halls of the CIA or MI6; and you’ll get a decidedly frosty reaction. Your reception at the successor to the KGB will be quite different. You can guess whose side he was on.Kim Philby is indisputably one of the most successful spies whose identity has ever been revealed. For nearly three decades; from his recruitment as a Soviet spy as an undergraduate at Cambridge in the early 1930s to his flight from Beirut to Moscow in 1963; he fed mountains of sensitive information to his handlers in Moscow. Yet he operated with such skill and aplomb that he was for a number of years considered to be a shoo-in as the successor to “C;” the director of the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service; MI6.Though he began his secret work in 1934 or even earlier; Philby first came under active suspicion in 1951 for having tipped off two other Soviet spies in time for them to escape from certain capture and flee to the USSR. However; his superiors and his friends remained so firmly convinced of his innocence despite a huge volume of circumstantial evidence that they undertook a high-profile campaign in his defense that helped to put off his capture for a dozen more years. All this; despite decades of prodigious consumption of alcohol that would have dangerously loosened the tongue of virtually any other human being.philbyThe Soviet postage stamp that featured Philby’s likeness in 1990A Spy Among Friends tells Philby’s oft-told story in a new way; focusing on his relationships with the two long-term friends with whom he was closest: Nicholas Elliott; a colleague and contemporary at MI6; and a slightly younger American; James Jesus Angleton; the legendary head of counterintelligence at the CIA from 1954 to 1975. Each of these men is worthy of a book in his own right; in fact; Angleton has been the subject of criticism and conjecture in numerous books over the decades. Ben MacIntyre weaves their stories together with consummate skill.MacIntyre is a proficient researcher and a gifted storyteller. A book on this topic — so far as we know; the greatest calamity in the annals of Western espionage — could easily become a dreadful bore; riddled with strident rhetoric and recriminations. But MacIntyre tells the tale so straightforwardly and injects so many telling details and so much local color that it’s a genuine pleasure to read. And if you’re like me and you enjoy learning about the fabled eccentricities of English “gentlemen” with names like Sir Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugessen; you’ll love this book. So many of the characters who crossed paths with Philby over the years were true originals. I found myself laughing out loud more often than I could possibly recount.Incidentally; the Afterword by John Le Carre is not an afterthought typical of these devices. It’s well worth reading — but not before the body of the book; only afterward; as intended.Ben MacIntyre writes about crime; too; but is best known for his books on espionage — for the most part; British espionage. His earlier books about spies have included Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage; Love; and Betrayal; Double-Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies; and Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured Allied Victory. I’ve read and been enthralled by all three.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Fatal FlawBy Jason S. TaylorOne of the most famous statements of CS Lewis; was "We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst." But this is a story of a man who took honor for granted-and was equally shocked.One of the oddest tasks is to look upon the deeds of someone you cannot comprehend. Humility demands a; "There but for the grace of God." But if asked if I could have done what Philby did I can honestly say no I could not. His creed is alien to mine; and the betrayals he was ready to commit for them would horrify me even if I sympathized. All I can grant him is the strange sort of pity one gives to one who seems to have made himself into a small window into hell.But could I have done what Elliot did? Most certainly. Elliot is a man I find easy to identify with. I could have gone for years assuming a man working with me was a beloved comrade-in-arms only to find him a traitor. I could easily have been blinded by friendship and been a dupe in a catastrophe that caused the deaths of who knows how many.Elliot was a man of simple virtues. He believed in the oft-mocked creed of King; Country; and Friendship. To say that is not to scorn him. His fault was not in what he had but merely that he could not rise above. Many reviewers here scorn those values. But those were part of what took Britain through the War. Even in intelligence; it bolstered Britain; if it caused a disaster; how much more disasters could have been caused if they had not trusted each other? But once penetrated; it made it all the more vulnerable.The book traces the dual biography of Philby and Eliot through their boyhood to their service. Aside from the actual story of The Betrayal; the story is interesting in itself. It traces their swashbuckling careers through World War II and the Cold War up to their final tragic confrontation in Beirut.In a way Elliot had the last laugh; far in time when all last laughs were irrelevant. Elliot continued as a respected Intelligence officer and retired well. Philby was kept at arms length by the Russians who had no further use for him; they had their own Old Boys Network and were hardly incompetent enough to invite someone else's traitor in. Just as he used up his friends; his wives(one of which he asked to keep him company in exile; and then left for a fellow traitor's wife); and his children in pursuit of his dream; so the reality behind that dream used him up.The best way to describe this book is as a Greek tragedy. Eliot's virtue was loyalty. That was his fatal flaw when it blinded him to a supposed friend who abused his friendship for a foreign creed.At the beginning is the famous quote about between ones country and one's friend. In a sense both made the wrong decision. Philby counted as his "country" an enemy of his birth-country and betrayed everything he pretended to stand for in it's name. In a way Eliott tried to stand by his friend-and betrayed his country. But the difference is of course that the first did so knowingly and the second betrayal was from a fatal human flaw most can identify with; in a man that would never have dreamed of deliberately doing the harm he was duped into doing. This points out the answer to that question should be different; the writer who made that remark urged choosing one's friend. The true answer is that it depends on what one's country wanted and what one's friend wanted. Phiby's "country" wanted to much. And so did Eliott's friendship with Philby; as Eliott at least had the grace to know at the last.To see more on such ponderings; the reader is advised to read Eric Felten's Loyalty: The Vexing Virtue where it discusses the tangles that come between one kind of loyalty and another.