A Spy Among Friends
- Author Ben Macintyre
- Narrator Michael Tudor Barnes
- Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing
- Run Time 12 hours and 32 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Biography and non-fiction prose, Biography: historical, political and military, Espionage and secret services, History, Military history, Politics and government, Society and Social Sciences.
Titles Purchased
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- 6-10
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Price p/Title
- £7.99
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Listen to a sample
What to expect
A SUNDAY TIMES No. 1 BESTSELLER
WITH AN AFTERWORD BY JOHN LE CARRÉ
'Riveting, astounding ... An unputdownable postwar thriller' Observer
'Irresistibly readable' Sunday Times
'Worthy of John le Carré at his best' Guardian
'Hugely engrossing ... Both authoritative and enthralling' William Boyd
________________
Kim Philby was the most notorious British defector and Soviet mole in history. Agent, double agent, charmer and traitor, he betrayed every secret of Allied operations to the Russians in the early years of the Cold War. In the aftermath of the Second World War, Philby, Nicholas Elliott and James Jesus Angleton were rising stars in the intelligence world and shared every secret. Elliott and Angleton thought they knew Philby better than anyone - and then discovered they had not known him at all.
This is a story of loyalty, trust and treachery, class and conscience, of male friendships forged, and then systematically betrayed. With access to newly released MI5 files and previously unseen papers, A Spy Among Friends unlocks what is perhaps the last great secret of the Cold War.
Critics Review
-
An engaging book on a tantalising and ultimately tragic subject, If it starts as a study of friendship, it ends as an indictment
Philip Hensher, Spectator -
No one writes about deceit and subterfuge so dramatically, authoritatively or perceptively. To read A Spy Among Friends is a bit like climbing aboard a runaway train in terms of speed and excitement – except that Macintyre knows exactly where he is going and is in total control of his material
Daily Mail, Books of the Week -
It reads like fiction, which is testament to the extraordinary power of the story itself but also to the skills of the storyteller … at least as compelling as any of the great fictionalised accounts of Britain’s greatest traitor and one of the best real-life spy stories one is ever likely to read *****
Daily Express -
Illuminating, gripping and moving … What Macintyre reveals – but not too quickly – is the extent to which those who confided in him, as friends or colleagues or both, were made unwitting accessories to treason
Evening Standard -
Thrilling … An extraordinary book … I’m not a lover of spy novels, yet I adored this book. Fictional spies never seem believable to me; novels are populated by stereotypes devoid of nuances that define the individual. That’s not the case here. Macintyre’s strength is his capacity for intimacy, the very thing Philby, Elliott and Angleton lacked … Just about perfect
The Times Book of the Week -
Whereas Milne thinks his friend betrayed his country because he genuinely believed in communism, Macintyre’s explanation is more intriguing and more convincing
Sunday Times
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