« The mass medias in the days of newspapers and television it’s hard to be able to find a story that’s about just what you’re interested in at the time you’re interested in it. »

Guy #Burgess, 🇬🇧 diplomat and Soviet double agent who died #OTD in 1963, aged 52. #CambridgeFive 🕵️‍♀️

@jozevolf Totally agree!

Generally, I'm not usually interested in spy material. And haven't seen the new series.

But this book was described as approaching the “Cambridge Five” history in a new light, interpreting the entire issue through the lens of a certain kind of British friendship. The intense, decades-long friendship between Nicholas Elliott and Kim Philby. It was a real page-turner, wondering how and when Philby is finally undone, and outed as a 30-year mole for the Soviets.

Amazing that someone can be a certain person inside, and so completely hide their real self from their closest friends. For 30 years.

There were flashes of the real Philby that shone through on occasion, but that was pretty rare.

Philby’s betrayal badly impacted the lives and careers of some of his closest friends and co-workers. Some of them went on destructive and fruitless mole-hunts in their own agencies, inflicting major damage on innocent people on both sides of the ocean.

Can you really know someone? No matter how long you’ve known them? Who can you trust? Can you really trust anyone?

Life is built on trust at the most basic level, but if you mistrust everyone and everything, how do you maintain your sanity? Maybe in the long run, some of the players in this book didn’t maintain theirs.

#BookReview
#ASpyAmongFriends
#CambridgeFive