An elegant, twisty spy story by a true master of the craft
Bestselling novelist Robert
Littell employs all his considerable skills in telling the story of Kim
Philby through the eyes of more than twenty true-life characters. As
each layer is revealed, the question arises: Who really was this man?
When Kim Philby fled to Moscow in
1963, he became the most infamous double agent in history. A member
of Britain's intelligence service since World War II, he had risen to
become their chief officer in Washington, D.C. after the war. The
exposure of other members of the group of double agents known as the
Cambridge Five led to the revelation that he had been working for Russia
for even longer than he had been part of MI6. Yet he escaped, and spent
the last twenty-five years of his life in Moscow.
In Young Philby, Robert
Littell tells the story of the spy's early years. In the words of his
friends, lovers, and Soviet handlers we see the development of a
fascinating, flawed man who kept people guessing about his ideals and
allegiances until the very end.
