A Spy Among Friends is a story about probably the most successful double agent, and the worst friend, in history. Kim Philby, son of a prominent scholar, rose through the ranks of Britain’s MI6 intelligence service during World War II. Thanks mainly to his charm and his impeccable credentials, Philby served in a series of tremendously important positions in England and abroad, often running the most sensitive and dangerous operations. He was also a Soviet spy.
Nicholas Elliott’s career at MI6 rose in parallel with Philby’s, and their service occasionally overlapped. Elliott was the real deal. A true blue Englishman committed to king and country. There was no one he trusted more than Kim Philby.
Author Ben Macintyre expert delineates the tragedy and the foolishness of the friendship between these two oh so similar and yet completely different men. He also examines the absurdity of the spy game as a whole, highlighting its inherent contradictions and faulty reasoning. Elliott and Philby are just a microcosm of espionage as a whole: a field where secrecy is supposed to be the primary concern but secrets are shared like high-school gossip on the pretense of friendship.
The first half or so of the book takes place during World War II and is absolutely packed with some of the wildest true stories history has to offer. There’s a reason your dad is always reading about this war. A personal favorite anecdote of mine was Elliott’s brief trip to Sierra Leone, where part of his mission was to supply Sierra Leone’s MI6 station chief Graham Greene (yes, the author) with enough condoms to operate a brothel intended to honeytrap Germans stationed in the area.
Post-war, Philby’s treachery becomes more serious and more deadly as Britain’s and the West’s focus shifts to taking on Communism. A true believer since his youth, Philby had no qualms about sending agents out on missions which were sure to fail, having turned over every detail to his Soviet handlers. Neither the deaths of these agents nor the deaths of Soviet intelligence officers who displeased Stalin could dissuade Philby from the cause. Macintyre does a great job laying out the human cost of Philby’s commitment.
Nominally a spy story, A Spy Among Friends is actually a damning indictment of the British class system. Philby was actively sabotaging his own operations, and if nothing else his poor success rate at infiltrating Soviet states should have set off alarm bells much sooner than it did. Macintyre convincingly makes the case that Philby was only able to get away with his traitorous deeds because he the right sort of chap. He went to the right schools, dressed the right way, belonged to the right clubs and loved his cricket. It was genuinely inconceivable to Elliott and the rest of MI6’s higher-ups that one of their own could betray them. (Interestingly, MI5, which was much more middle- and working-class was much more skeptical of Philby much earlier.)
The second-half of the book tracks Philby’s inevitable but far too drawn-out downfall. As more and more Soviets defect to the West, Philby is convinced that sooner or later one of them will know who he is and give that info to MI6. Equally threatening are the exposures of other spies within British Intelligence, any of whom could expose Philby as well. Macintyre expertly wrings the tension out of this real-life story, depicting the dissolution of Philby’s marriage and his growing alcoholism as the net slowly but surely draws around him.
Full of fascinating information and insightful analysis, A Spy Among Friends is a masterful telling of an unbelievable true story.