Treason in the Blood

Reading "Kim" Philby's auto-biography "My Silent War" (1968) was for me a little like sitting at a dinner table expecting a gourmet meal and finding nothing more than a pea. On the contrary, Anthony Cave Brown's is a fiesta; don't come to dine without bringing two mouths and a doggie bag. I have been facinated with Kim Philby, the man, for many years. Who was he and why did he do what he did. I thought "My Silent War" was the answer. It wasn't. I was deeply disappointed. Philby fed his readers crumbs laced with deception, which is consistent with the fact that he was the embodiment of the highest level of deception, treachery and espionage in the twentieth century. No one else in the period comes close. Anthony Cave Brown did a masterful work on Philby and the book is nothing less than "over-kill". He researched no less than 20 areas in Philby's life, from that of his paternal grandfather to the Moscow cemetary where the spy is buried. Nothing is omitted. It was always my opinion that to understand Philby the man I would have to know Philby the child. On that score Anthony Cave Brown does not disappoint. When Philby, in his KGB-aided auto-biography refused to say where, when and how he began his life as a Soviet secret operative, Brown answered those questions masterfully. I have read many books on Kim Philby and the Cambridge Spies. "Treason in the Blood" is THE definitive book on the life of Kim Philby. Nothing else compares, period.

Despite the implications of the title, "Treason in the Blood," Anthony Cave Brown presents a generally well-balanced portrayal of the life of Kim Philby, one of the Soviet Union's Cambridge spies, who had penetrated deeply into MI6 during World War II. Mr. Brown's entertaining account adds missing pieces to the puzzle, beginning with Philby's childhood and his admiration for his usually absent father, St. John, an adventurer who had become a friend and adviser to King Ibn Saud. Brown also presents an absorbing narrative of Kim Philby's depressingly ambiguous reception in the Soviet Union after his hasty departure from Beirut in 1963. The book, which juxtaposes a portrayal of Philby's headstrong father (based upon the elder Philby's reminiscences and letters to his long-suffering wife) with Kim's youth, education, entry and career in espionage (much of the latter being familiar territory), is a 'page-turner' in spite of its 637 pages (including index). As fascinating as the account of Philby's life in Beirut and Moscow is, however, the reader must be cautious. The author frequently relies uncritically upon evidence supplied by those whose own axes were sharply honed, as it were, since Philby's defection either made them look like fools or cast a shadow of complicity over them. The author also relies occasionally upon a juxtaposition of unrelated events, offering several interpretations, including gossip-- introduced by "it is said"--and leaving the worst interpretation (in respect to Philby's motives) to the last, where it will linger in his readers' minds (This rhetorical technique of innuendo will be recognizable to readers of the Ancient Roman authors, Suetonius and Tacitus.). Perhaps the author's most infuriating fault, however, is the tendency to bring up a question that begs, if not an answer, at least some comment. For example, on p. 518 he notes that Guy Burgess on his deathbed ("is said to have") denounced Philby as a British (and therefore triple) agent, but that Burgess nevertheless bequeathed most of his precious library, some furniture, and a considerable amount of money to Philby. Then the author moves on to another topic, Philby's legal status in the Soviet Union. The reader would like to learn more about Burgess' startling allegations and their implications. Only on p. 589 do we discover from a former KGB agent that Philby could not possibly have been a "British plant" since, being under continual Soviet scrutiny, he had "no contact" with the British in Moscow. Whom are we to believe? Keeping these caveats in mind, the reader will nevertheless be rewarded with a tale of espionage that rarely ceases to enthrall.

The research was top rate; the writing was superb; the factual underpinnings for everything were uncontravertible, and the subject was fascinating. That said, there exists a political bent here that attempts to skew the reader to have a sense of sympathy for Philby. Skip it, Philby was a treacherous lowlife. Clearly Philby had a communist belief system, that's not in question. The real issue of course is, should your ideological belief system justify treasonous acts? In other words, Philby was placed in a position of trust by the British Government. Does the fact that he had the heart of a communist justify the actions he took on behalf of the Soviets? No. In fact, as demonstrated later in his life, which really isn't explored as much as it should have been, Philby clearly become disenchanted with the communist manifesto. The bottom line, however, is that this is a great read, well done

I think I can say without exaggeration, this is possibly the most important book of the 20th Century to date, which I have just had the good fortune to read within the last 6 months or so of that century. It illuminates and supplies all the linkages between the titanic struggles for the Middle East among the Great Powers of the Nineteenth Century, and the present hellish landscape that is their legacy. Then it goes on to meticulously study the character of Kim Philby, possibly the most important man of the century and certainly the one who embodies most all the contradictions and ambiguity of it. In the end nobody could penetrate this man's psyche, not the British and Americans whom he betrayed, nor the Russians whom he supposedly served. He remained a mystery wrapped inside an enigma to the end. The book causes one to ponder, how many of the great events of this century, turned on this one man? I can see why Graham Greene was so fond of him, because he is the character Graham Greene was trying to perfect in all his novels...

Brown paints engaging and detailed pictures of St. John and Kim Philby. The chapters on St. John are particularly interesting. To judge by Brown's book, the elder Philby led a more colorful, though less notorious life than his son Kim. Brown ultimately fails to support his charge of treason against St. John Philby. The charge, implicit in the book's title, is never really followed through in the text. St. John, as described by Brown, was an active critic of British policy in Arabia, a gadfly, and ultimately an embittered nuisance. This is not the same as being a traitor, however.The chapters on Kim contain no new blockbusters, though Brown draws his character deftly. Ultimately more interesting than Kim Philby the man, though, is Kim Philby the phenomenon.Kim Philby continues to exert a fascination which extends far beyond his actual historical impact. His betrayal, and that of Burgess, MacLean, et al, seem to stand as emblematic of the decay of the English upper classes in the Post WWI period. While Brown does an admirable job painting his portrait of the man, he doesn't dwell on the question of why we still care about this brilliant, vain, aristocratic traitor.