A Spy Among Friends

An engaging book on a tantalising and ultimately tragic subject, If it starts as a study of friendship, it ends as an indictment * <b>Philip Hensher, <i>Spectator</i></b> * 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 * <b><i>Daily Mail</i>, Books of the Week</b> * 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 ***** * <b><i>Daily Express</i></b> * 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 * <b><i>Evening Standard</i></b> * Thrilling ... An extraordinary book ... Im 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. Thats not the case here. Macintyres strength is his capacity for intimacy, the very thing Philby, Elliott and Angleton lacked Just about perfect * <b><i>The Times</i> Book of the Week</b> * Whereas Milne thinks his friend betrayed his country because he genuinely believed in communism, Macintyres explanation is more intriguing and more convincing * <b><i>Sunday Times</i></b> * Riveting reading ... The transcript of this rendezvous is Ben Macintyres scoop: the motor of an unputdownable postwar thriller whose every incredible detail is fact not fiction A brilliant reconciliation of history and entertainment ... A Spy Among Friends is not just an elegy, it is an unforgettable requiem * <b><i>Observer</i></b> * Gripping ... Ben Macintyres bottomlessly fascinating new book is an exploration of Kim Philbys friendships, particularly with Nicholas Elliott This book consists of 300 pages; I would have been happy had it been three times as long ***** * <b><i>Mail on Sunday</i></b> * The life of Cambridge spy Kim Philby is analysed in this irresistibly readable study * <b><i>Sunday Times</i></b> * Swiftly paced, beautifully written It is the small, human details that makes this grim, beguiling story so intoxicating * <b><i>Scotland on Sunday</i></b> * A hugely engrossing contribution to Philby lore ... Such a summary does no justice to Macintyres marvellously shrewd and detailed account of Philbys nefarious career. It is both authoritative and enthralling ... One of the pleasures of writing about espionage is that you are almost licensed to concoct your own conspiracy theories; all thats demanded is plausibility, and Elliott and Macintyres gloss on events is highly plausible * <b>William Boyd, <i>New Statesman</i></b> * He does not let his readers down here The story has been told before, but Macintyres ability to unbundle intelligence acronyms is unrivalled He has thrown a detailed and always entertaining light on the practices and culture of the 20th-century British intelligence through the lens of its most ignominious episode * <b><i>Sunday Telegraph</b></i> * Engaging and atmospheric * <b><i>Country Life</i></b> * Macintyre writes with the diligence and insight of a journalist, and the panache of a born storyteller Worthy of John le Carr at his best * <

Ben Macintyre is a columnist and Associate Editor on The Times. He has worked as the newspaper's correspondent in New York, Paris and Washington. 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. 1 bestsellers Operation Mincemeat and Double Cross. He lives in London.