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Ben Macintyre is a writer-at-large for The Times of London and the bestselling author of A Spy Among Friends, Double Cross, Operation Mincemeat, Agent Zigzag, and Rogue Heroes, among other books. Macintyre has also written and presented BBC documentaries of his work.
Ben Macintyre's website
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What inspired you to turn your hand to Kim Philby—greatest spy of the Cold War—and, in particular, through the lens of his closest relationships and greatest betrayals?
A Spy Among Friends was born out of a conversation with John le Carré some years ago, in which I asked him—while walking on Hampstead Heath—which was the best untold spy story of the Cold War, and he replied unhesitatingly, "The friendship between Kim Philby and Nicholas Elliott."
Did you make an effort to read other books or watch movies about Kim Philby before you wrote this book? Are there any others you'd recommend after reading A Spy Among Friends?
There are several excellent books about Kim Philby, and almost no good films. Of the straight biographies, Phillip Knightley's Philby: KGB Masterspy is probably still the best, having the benefit of several interviews with Philby before his death. Oddly, Philby has inspired more great fiction, on the page and on-screen, than good nonfiction.
Where (or how) did you conduct most of your research, and did you encounter any difficulties or roadblocks along the way?
My research was a combination of archival research, gathering material from private sources, and interviews with ...
John Altman is a musician and freelance writer living in New York City. A graduate of Harvard, he comes from an extended family of writers, including the novelists Karen Bender, Aimee Bender, and Robert Anthony Siegel.
In...
(more)
If you enjoyed:
A Spy Among Friends
Try:
A Gathering of Spies
by John Altman
Scott Anderson is a veteran war correspondent who has reported from Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Northern Ireland, Chechnya, Sudan, Bosnia, El Salvador and many other strife-torn countries. A frequent contributor to the New York ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
A Spy Among Friends
Try:
The Quiet Americans
by Scott Anderson
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