A Spy Among Friends

Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal

By: Ben Macintyre

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 11 hrs

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The epic true story of Kim Philby, the Cold War’s most infamous spy, from the “master storyteller” (San Francisco Chronicle) and author of Prisoners of the Castle.

Now an MGM+ series starring Damian Lewis, Guy Pearce, and Anna Maxwell Martin

“[A Spy Among Friends] reads like a story by Graham Greene, Ian Fleming, or John le Carré, leavened with a dollop of P. G. Wodehouse.”—Walter Isaacson, New York Times Book Review

Who was Kim Philby? Those closest to him—like his fellow MI6 officer and best friend since childhood, Nicholas Elliot, and the CIA’s head of counterintelligence, James Jesus Angleton—knew him as a loyal confidant and an unshakeable patriot. Philby was a brilliant and charming man who rose to head Britain’s counterintelligence against the Soviet Union. Together with Elliott and Angleton he stood on the front lines of the Cold War, holding Communism at bay. But he was secretly betraying them both: He was working for the Russians the entire time.

Every word uttered in confidence to Philby made its way to Moscow, sinking almost every important Anglo-American spy operation for twenty years and costing hundreds of lives. So how was this cunning double-agent finally exposed? In A Spy Among Friends, Ben Macintyre expertly weaves the heart-pounding tale of how Philby almost got away with it all—and what happened when he was finally unmasked.

Based on personal papers and never-before-seen British intelligence files and told with heart-pounding suspense and keen psychological insight, A Spy Among Friends is a fascinating portrait of a Cold War spy and the countrymen who remained willfully blind to his treachery.

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Shelf Awareness

©2014 Ben Macintyre (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Macintyre has produced more than just a spy story. He has written a narrative about that most complex of topics, friendship. . . . When devouring this thriller, I had to keep reminding myself it was not a novel. . . . [Macintyre] takes a fresh look at the grandest espionage drama of our era.”—Walter Isaacson, The New York Times Book Review

“A Spy Among Friends is the latest in Ben Macintyre’s series on twentieth-century espionage. All are superb, and A Spy Among Friends is no exception. Macintyre gives the familiar story of Philby new life.”—Malcolm Gladwell,The New Yorker

“Macintyre does here what he does best—tell a heck of a good story. A Spy Among Friends is hands down the most entertaining book I’ve reviewed this year.”—Boston Globe

Inside baseball on one of the biggest spy story

Mr. McIntyre writes an incredible detailed and chilling tale that sadly is true but reads like a novel.

Edge of the seat and pause resisting it is a story of unbelievable betrayal of a decades long friendship in the world on intelligence, espionage and counterintelligence.

Strap in. Terrific read. Fast paced.

The Best

I love Ben. He is simply the best. Could you imagine Ben and John L. At a bar bullshitting. Would love to be the guy listening in with a recorder.

Cal I. Andrews.

Charismatic Spy~ Philby~ 4 STARS~

PLOT: DETAILS about the greatest spy network ever.

1930s and the Cambridge spies are being recruited one by one. Philby, Blunt, MacClean,and Guy Burgess. All decide to spy for Communist Russia. Because of education and the "good old boy" network the upper class education gets the Cambridge Spies into the best jobs in the foreign office and at the outbreak of World War 2. Harold "KIM" Philby has access and the means to simply remove TOP SECRET files and copy them at home and return them the next day. Dozens of under cover operatives are sold out and killed as a result of his treachery. When Burgess and MacClean end up escaping to Russia Philby is soon under suspicion. Because of the lack of PROOF they soon have to clear his name once he is accused of spying. The CIA and Angleton "trusted" Philby simply because he was so very charismatic. a heavy drinker and womanizer he still had people defend him no matter what. After he was "let go" from MI 6 he is in Africa doing the ONLY job he was allowed to have....reporting middle east events to a newspaper. One final 'confrontation" with by MI6 has Philby give a 'partial confession' and instead of putting him under arrest or at least having him under surveillance Philby simply hops a freighter and ends up in Russia. Philby had convinced himself he was a major player in the spy game and at least would be recognized as a KBG Officer. But his "golden cage" in Russia does not live up to his expectations. The KGB believe he is a triple agent planted by England to spy on Russia. This leads to yet more alcoholism and even an attempted suicide. He is followed and under constantly under the ever watchful eye of the KGB. and he is NOT allowed access to any kind of Russian Secrets. To pass the time he married a Russian woman and wrote books. He dies and was buried with full military honor in Moscow. This is a very good audiobook. It gives us a first hand look at the PERSONALITY of Philby who was both likeable and was able to pass on secrets that resulted in hundreds of people killed. Philby who never felt any kind of remorse OR responsibility or what happened as a result of his spying. The focus on this one is PHILBY. Maybe the greatest spy of all who was "allowed" to continue working and full access even when he was under suspicion. 4 STARS for story, very good reader and very interesting story.

The Truth is more remarkable than fiction.

having lived through this period , having savored Cold War spy novels and being a devout anti-Communist, this was Nirvana.

Well written

Complicated person and history explained. Audio version clips along well. This part of history is dismaying,even though it takes certain people to do this kind of job.

Exceedingly Entertaining

I found this book to be both informative and interesting. I loved the narration and the background information given. I loved how it talked about both the good and the bad of the espionage world of the time but did not place emphasis on them. This was more of a fact based narrative than a political statement. Where politics were concerned, I do appreciate how the communists were rightly portrayed as bad guys and the KGB in particular, but did not find it necessary to go into the grizzly details of there actions, being satisfied with only a passing mention of them. Details of the atrocities were not relevant to this account. All in all, I loved the account of a real life super spy.

Intriguing story! Unbelievable betrayal!

A true piece of history that defies comprehension. It has everything we've come to learn about the basis for the international spy game of the 20th century. An unbeleivable tale of a severely confused, internally conflicted and completely double minded individual in a position of nearly absolute power and whole hearted fidelity of a national intelligence community that in the end needed to pluck its own heart out to save any portions of the body of work that was the security of Great Britain. Fascinating!

Interesting angle to a well known story

While it's a well known affair, the author gave a whole new dimension to this historical drama.

great performance; compelling story!

enjoyed this very much. such a fascinating story with great insights into British society at that time.

Unbelievable Story

I love spy stories. The cat and mouse hunts, close calls and intrigue. Ken Philby ranks amongst the worst betrayal in history. Non-repentance throughout.

Highly recommended!