Ben macintyres a spy among friends the new york times. Lionsgate adapting kim philby biography a spy among friends. Kim philby and the great betrayal kim philby was the most notorious british defector and soviet mole in history. Kim philby and the great betrayal by ben macintyre. Ben macintyres bottomlessly fascinating new book is an exploration of kim philbys friendships, particularly with nicholas elliott. A spy among friends is an extraordinary book about a sordid profession in which the most important attribute is the ability to lie. Real life spy kim philby had a level of charm that fictional spy james bond could only aspire to. Ben macintyre is a columnist and associate editor on the times. Lionsgate adapting kim philby biography a spy among. Kim philby and the great betrayal ben macintyre, 2014 crown publishing 384 pp. Macintyres focus on friendship brings an intimacy to this book that is missing from the cardboard stereotypes that populate spy novels and conventional espionage historiesim not a lover of spy novels, yet i adored this book. 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. Kim philby and the great betrayal from the worlds largest community of readers. New york times bestseller the true story of kim philby, the cold wars most infamous spy, from the master espionage writer and author of the spy and the traitor.
A spy among friends manages to convey philbys satanic charm craig brown, mail on sunday books of the year this account of the highlevel british spymaster who turned out to be a russian mole reads like john le carre but is a solidly researched true story new york times 100 notable books of 2014. He was only able to put the book down when absolutely necessary. In a spy among friends, ben macintyre expertly weaves the heartpounding tale of how philby almost got away with it alland what happened when he was finally unmasked. Macintyre has also written and presented bbc documentaries of his work. Based on personal papers and neverbeforeseen british intelligence files, this is ben macintyres epic telling of one of the greatest spy stories ever, a cold war history. Kim philby was the most notorious british defector and soviet mole in history. John michael ward bingham, 7th baron clanmorris aka michael ward 19081988 was the author of 17 thrillers, detective and spy novels between 1952 and 1982. A spy among friends is an absorbing book offering stories of sex, booze, betrayal, suspense, and other risky behaviors. Jul 29, 2014 elie wiesel spent his early years in a small transylvanian town as one of four children. Master storyteller ben macintyres most ambitious work to date brings to life the twentieth centurys greatest spy story. Told with heartpounding suspense and keen psychological insight, and based on personal papers and neverbeforeseen british intelligence files, a spy among friends is.
Kim philby and the great betrayal by ben macintyre crown macintyres thesis is that philby was shielded by the dumbly selfprotective ethos of the british upper. The book a spy among friends written by ben macintire made for fascinating reading for my husband. Ben macintyre is a writeratlarge for the times of london and the bestselling author of a spy among friends, double cross, operation mincemeat, agent zigzag, and rogue heroes, among other books. Agent, double agent, traitor and enigma, he betrayed every secret of allied operations to the russians in the early years of the cold war.
A spy among friends by ben macintyre suspected of being a spy for a decade before his 1963 defection to moscow, kim philby escaped punishment with the help of a smooth manner and. Kim philby and the great betrayal and over 8 million other books are available for amazon kindle. Kim philby and the great betrayal by ben macintyre is a potent study in the psychology of tight bonds between species of a certain class. He was the only one of the family to survive what francois maurois, in his introduction, calls the human holocaust of the persecution of the jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens. Told with heartpounding suspense and keen psychological insight, and based on personal papers and neverbeforeseen british intelligence files, a spy among friends is ben macintyres best book. Several men have worked for the british intelligence services and have gone on to have successful writing careers. To meet philby, it seemed, was to fall under his convivial sway. Boston globe macintyre is a superb writer, with an eye for the telling detail as fine as any novelist s a spy among friends is as suspenseful as any novel, too, as the clues tighten around philby s guilt. Elliott was selfconfident as only a wellbred, well. Jan 01, 2014 ben macintyre is a columnist and associate editor on the times. Ben macintyres latest nonfiction thriller, a spy among friends, is about kim philby, the highlevel british spymaster who turned out to be a russian mole. A spy among friends kim philby was the most notorious british defector and soviet mole in history. Told with heartpounding suspense and keen psychological insight, and based on personal papers and neverbeforeseen british intelligence files, a spy among friends is ben macintyres best book yet, a highwater mark in cold war history telling. Apart from the pain of losing his best friend when philby was outed and subsequently fled to russia, elliott also suffered the embarrassment of having brought philby back into mi6 after he had been nearly exposed as a spy a few years earlier.
Read free book excerpt from a spy among friends by ben macintyre, page 8 of 9. Kim philby and the great betrayal by ben macintyre in chm, djvu, epub download e book. Mar 12, 2015 the book a spy among friends written by ben macintire made for fascinating reading for my husband. Macintyres focus on friendship brings an intimacy to this book that is missing from the cardboard stereotypes that populate spy novels and conventional espionage historiesim not a lover of spy novels. A spy among friends is at least as compelling as any of the great fictionalised accounts of britains greatest traitor and one of the best reallife spy stories one is. But, in fact, a spy among friends is a solidly researched true story. There is no question that kim philby was the most legendary spy of world war ii.
He was born in haywards heath, sussex, and educated at cheltenham college before. The london journalist ben macintyre, who has written nine previous histories chronicling intrigue and skulduggery, takes a. Boston globe macintyre is a superb writer, with an eye for the telling detail as fine as any novelist s a spy among friendsis as suspenseful as. The focus of a spy among friends is the fragility of trust in the spy business. A spy among friends by ben macintyre suspected of being a spy for a decade before his 1963 defection to moscow, kim philby escaped punishment with the. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. A spy among friends by ben macintyre suspected of being a spy for a decade before his 1963 defection to moscow, kim philby escaped punishment with the help of a smooth. In this engaging reallife spy story, macintyre double cross pulls back the curtain on the life and exploits of kim philby, who served for decades in britains intelligence community while. He has worked as the newspapers correspondent in new york, paris and washington. His constant use of quotes from interviews and official and recently declassified documents confirms that the material is exceptionally well.
A spy among friends, ben macintyre shop online for books in. Get 50% off this audiobook at the audiobooksnow online audio book store and download or stream it right to your computer, smartphone or tablet. I gave it to him as a gift and he had great problems to stop reading. It definitely deserves all the accolades it has received. Dallas morning news macintyre is a superb writer, with an eye for the telling detail as fine as any novelists. Thus, when it was disclosed in 1963 that this very proper, wellplaced and cambridgeeducated. I would have been happy had it been three times as long mail on sunday.
A spy among friends is not just an elegy, it is an unforgettable requiem observer gripping. A spy among friends by bloomsbury publishing issuu. Mar 28, 2014 to order a spy among friends or kim philby, each at. It appears that two things were crucial to become successful in mi6drink like a fish and be from the right school.
A spy among friends by ben macintyre a 30minute instaread summary inside this instaread summary. Overview of the entire book introduction to the important people in the book summary and analysis of all the chapters in the book key takeaways of the book. Macintyre is a superb writer, with an eye for the telling detail as fine as any novelistsa spy among friends is as suspenseful as any novel, too, as the clues tighten around philbys guilt. The title of this book is a spy among friends, but a more accurate one might have been, intelligence agents have no friends. Those closest to himlike his fellow mi6 officer and best friend since childhood, nicholas elliot, and the cias head of counterintelligence, james jesus angletonknew him as a loyal.
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