Much has been written about the Cambridge Five in general and Philby in particular. It is estimated that he passed on tens of thousands of classified documents to his Soviet controllers, information which resulted in sabotaged operations, nationwide scandal and the loss of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives. The extent of his betrayal only became apparent after his defection in 1963. He was recruited by the Soviet Union in the early 1930s and remained fully committed to the communist cause for the rest of his life. The whole time Philby was working for his country, he was also jeopardising it. He was admired, respected and, above all, trusted. Some of his colleagues believed he would come to lead the service. For the best part of his career, he could do no wrong. Rising through the ranks, Philby was posted to Istanbul in 1947 and two years later secured the plum post of mi6 chief in Washington. Philby played his high-stakes game of double-cross so ruthlessly, so successfully and for so long that he acquired a different level of infamy after he was unmasked.ĭuring the second world war, Philby worked in Section V of the Secret Intelligence Service, where he analysed intercepted German wireless messages alongside Graham Greene (who was already a celebrated novelist). Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess, John Cairncross and Donald Maclean-the other members of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring-committed many duplicitous deeds for their Soviet masters, but none can claim the title of Britain’s most notorious spy. Philby’s name is synonymous with treachery on a colossal scale.

Yet the British intelligence officer and double-agent made no such choice: he betrayed his country, his friends and his family for decades and without remorse. Forster wrote in 1938, “I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.” The English author’s words are used as an epigraph to “A Spy Among Friends”, Ben Macintyre’s bestselling book of 2014 about Harold “Kim” Philby, as well as for a new television adaptation. “If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friends,” E.M.

A spy amongst friends book