I don’t think there’s much of a distinction between this and Ben Macintyre’s other works: it’s well researched, narratively streamlined, and occasionally thrilling. But this feels like his best book by far.
And I don’t have much in the way of justification for saying that aside from how deeply personal it feels like Kim Philby’s betrayal still feels to him and the English.
I say “the English” specifically because while MI-6 technically serves the United Kingdom, this is very much an English story. A story of preppy public schoolers who get drafted into extraordinary circumstances, of ideology garnered at ancient universities that tips over into politics, of a specific mindset of English mannerisms that involve the right dress, the right drink, the right exchange. And Kim Philby seemed to exemplify much of that.
The story itself is thrilling and though I knew the broad strokes of it, I was still galled at the extent of Philby’s damage. That he did it without regard to who he was hurting shows that he was a deeply conflicted man who embraced all that came with upper crust Englishness but still thought it was worth betraying.
And that’s the heart of the story: Philby hid in plain sight for years. He pirouetted around every attempt to catch him. But he was aided in this endeavor by the fact that his compatriots (including his Anglophilic American counterpart James Jesus Angleton) would never think one of their own, one who is educated, one who is erudite, one who is…ahem…caucasian…would betray them. Everyone tried to save face after while the middle class humps of MI-5 and the FBI seemed to be on to Philby’s game. Philby effectively used English culture against itself, which has to rankle more.
That’s what makes this story great and Macintyre is the perfect person to tell it.