I have, on and off, read a bunch of Ben Macintye’s books, and this wasn’t the first, but it was the only one I read in 2019. Most of Macintyre’s projects involve writing about espionage during World War II and the Cold War, and this was no exception.

A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal is a biography of legendary Soviet spy and traitor Kim Philby, who worked in MI6 from 1941(ish) until 1951, and was the leader of the famous Cambridge Five Spy Ring (although recent accounts have claimed Guy Burgess was actually the leader). Charismatic and brilliant, Philby cultivated many relationships in Britain and the United States, and reported every word of his conversations with those people back to Moscow, betraying his coworkers, his country, and his friends. He was probably the most successful member of the Cambridge Five at passing secret information to the Soviets.

Sourced with personal papers and previously classified intelligence files, Macintyre tells an exciting espionage thriller. Philby is a fascinating character and Macintyre offers sharp psychological insight into his mind, offering possible motivations for his betrayals. I can’t remember exactly why he dedicated his life to communism and treachery, but it sounded noble, something about being for the equality of all people (or whatever).

With this in mind, I still rather disliked Philby. Maybe it was because he was betraying “my side” (as I am a daughter of the West) but I found Philby rather frightening. Macintyre never flat out says it, but Philby struck me as something of a sociopath, betraying undercover agents and Soviet defectors to Moscow without hesitation or regret.

One passage that I still remember, years later, was the story of Konstantin Volkov, the Vice Consul of the Soviet Consulate General in Istanbul. Long story short, Volkov offered to defect to the west, and promised to reveal several high ranking spies within British intelligence (probably Philby himself). Volkov’s case somehow came to Philby, who arranged to go to Istanbul to meet Volkov, but tipped off the Soviets to the traitor before doing so and delayed his arrival so the Soviets could essentially kidnap him, with horrific consequences for Volkov and his family. Macintyre writes:

“Konstantin Volkov left no traces: no photograph, no file in the Russian archives, no evidence about whether his motives were mercenary, personal or ideological. Neither his family, nor that of his wife, have ever emerged from the darkness of Stalin’s state. He had been right to assume that his relatives were doomed. Volkov was not merely liquidated, he was expunged.”

and

Philby showed no sympathy for Volkov, describing him as “a nasty piece of work” who “deserved what he got.”

Most of what we know about Volkov, actually I think *everything* we know, comes from British sources. Does anyone really deserve to have their entire family wiped out and basically be completely erased out of existence? I’d argue very few people actually deserve this. So yeah, Kim Philby. Great guy.

That said, I really, really enjoyed A Spy Among Friends. Macintyre is a master storyteller, suspenseful, fascinating, educational, and this was one of my favorite of his books, as well as one of my favorites of 2019. His other books I’d previously read were Agent Zigzag and Double Cross.

Tagged: authors: ben macintyre, books: a spy among friends, books: agent zigzag, books: double cross, genre: history, genre: non-fiction