The Philby Files: The Secret Life of Master Spy Kim Philby

Genrikh Borovik's absorbing account of the life and times of Kim Philby is especially compelling. Based upon a combination of personal interviews with the Cambridge spy during the last years of his life and a comparison of his reminiscences with the actual KGB files (which Philby was never allowed to see), the book offers new insights to the career of a man who was as enigmatic as he was charming (characteristics about which both his friends and enemies were in agreement). Borovik, a Russian journalist (who seems to be a cross between Tom Brokaw and Phil Donahue), was able to get access both to Philby and to the KGB files because of Glasnost. He is no apologist for the old communist regime, nor is he flummoxed by the Philby charm. Borovik lets the reader know when his subject has not been completely candid with him on a particular topic. Nevertheless, the author presents a sympathetic portrait of a man (with a delightful sense of humor) who may have betrayed his country (during the Cold War) but never betrayed his ideals. Borovik also provides a fascinating glimpse into the years in which Philby, who had resigned from MI6 under suspicion after Burgess and Maclean had defected to Moscow, was rehired by British Intelligence as an agent in Beirut (a touchy subject about which most books are reticent). Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the book, however, is its depiction of the dilemma in which Philby found himself--indeed, Burgess and Blunt found themselves in the same pickle--when the information he provided was judged by the KGB to be "too good" to be believed! British Intelligence could not have been so "unprofessional that they failed to notice that Soviet agents were carrying out documents from SIS by the suitcase [.]" (p. 213). Philby had to have been a double agent, as did the other two (For some reason, they never doubted Maclean.). Moscow's obsession that Philby and the others were British plants stemmed from the fact that when the agents were continually asked how many British spies were working in Russia, and the (truthful) answer was always "none," they were never believed. For years, in fact, Philby and the others were hounded by the KGB and forced to write endless time-wasting reports on the (non-existent) "main issue," the number of British agents in the Soviet Union. Philby's answer remained unwavering: "There are no British agents in the Soviet Union.". Although this cloud of suspicion would eventually dispel, it would nevertheless materialize from time to time and cast its shadow on Kim Philby even after his defection, depending upon who was in power in Moscow. Borovik's account of the death of Kim Philby, who served the Soviet Union for some thirty years, is both moving and ironic. As the author observes on page 375, "Three and a half years [after his death], the country to which he had devoted his life ceased to exist."