The Sunday Times number 1 bestselling story of Kim Philby, history’s most famous traitor, featuring an Afterword by John le Carré
Ben Macintyre is a columnist and Associate Editor on The Times. He has worked as the newspaper's correspondent in New York, Paris and Washington. He is the author of nine previous books including Agent Zigzag, shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award and the Galaxy British Book Award for Biography of the Year 2008, and the no. 1 bestsellers Operation Mincemeat and Double Cross. He lives in London.
An engaging book on a tantalising and ultimately tragic subject, If
it starts as a study of friendship, it ends as an indictment
*Philip Hensher, Spectator*
No one writes about deceit and subterfuge so dramatically,
authoritatively or perceptively. To read A Spy Among Friends is a
bit like climbing aboard a runaway train in terms of speed and
excitement – except that Macintyre knows exactly where he is going
and is in total control of his material
*Daily Mail, Books of the Week*
It reads like fiction, which is testament to the extraordinary
power of the story itself but also to the skills of the storyteller
… at least as compelling as any of the great fictionalised accounts
of Britain's greatest traitor and one of the best real-life spy
stories one is ever likely to read *****
*Daily Express*
Illuminating, gripping and moving … What Macintyre reveals – but
not too quickly – is the extent to which those who confided in him,
as friends or colleagues or both, were made unwitting accessories
to treason
*Evening Standard*
Thrilling ... An extraordinary book ... I’m not a lover of spy
novels, yet I adored this book. Fictional spies never seem
believable to me; novels are populated by stereotypes devoid of
nuances that define the individual. That’s not the case here.
Macintyre’s strength is his capacity for intimacy, the very thing
Philby, Elliott and Angleton lacked … Just about perfect
*The Times Book of the Week*
Whereas Milne thinks his friend betrayed his country because he
genuinely believed in communism, Macintyre’s explanation is more
intriguing and more convincing
*Sunday Times*
Riveting reading ... The transcript of this rendezvous is Ben
Macintyre’s scoop: the motor of an unputdownable postwar thriller
whose every incredible detail is fact not fiction … A brilliant
reconciliation of history and entertainment ... A Spy Among Friends
is not just an elegy, it is an unforgettable requiem
*Observer*
Gripping ... Ben Macintyre’s bottomlessly fascinating new book is
an exploration of Kim Philby’s friendships, particularly with
Nicholas Elliott … This book consists of 300 pages; I would have
been happy had it been three times as long *****
*Mail on Sunday*
The life of Cambridge spy Kim Philby is analysed in this
irresistibly readable study
*Sunday Times*
Swiftly paced, beautifully written … It is the small, human details
that makes this grim, beguiling story so intoxicating
*Scotland on Sunday*
A hugely engrossing contribution to Philby lore ... Such a summary
does no justice to Macintyre’s marvellously shrewd and detailed
account of Philby’s nefarious career. It is both authoritative and
enthralling ... One of the pleasures of writing about espionage is
that you are almost licensed to concoct your own conspiracy
theories; all that’s demanded is plausibility, and Elliott and
Macintyre’s gloss on events is highly plausible
*William Boyd, New Statesman*
He does not let his readers down here … The story has been told
before, but Macintyre’s ability to unbundle intelligence acronyms
is unrivalled … He has thrown a detailed and always entertaining
light on the practices and culture of the 20th-century British
intelligence through the lens of its most ignominious episode
*Sunday Telegraph*
Engaging and atmospheric
*Country Life*
Macintyre writes with the diligence and insight of a journalist,
and the panache of a born storyteller … Worthy of John le Carré at
his best
*John Banville, Guardian*
Fascinating … The real tragedy, as this book so masterfully
reveals, is that Philby’s charm and easy manner made fools of so
many *****
*Sunday Express*
The doomed relationship between Philby and Elliott makes this old
tale of treason seem new enough
*Economist*
Conscious that Philby’s story has been told many times before,
Macintyre tries to find a new angle by interweaving it with that of
Nicholas Elliott, probably Philby’s closest friend in MI6. This has
the merit of creating a rare sense of momentum, as we build towards
their final confrontation in Beirut
*Sunday Times*
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