Kim Philby: Irreplaceable Spy (Book Review Sample)

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Kim Philby: Irreplaceable Spy
In the days of the cold war, Kim Philby used to be a British intelligent officer as well as a spy for the Soviet Union. He was able to secure these positions after graduating from the University of Cambridge. He was a family man with four wives who were located at different locations due to the nature of his job as he was a chief spy. He unearthed many secrets and many people lost their lives when he served in his tenure. Philby later moved to Moscow where he finally settled. Philby got interested in communism when he was a student in Cambridge and eventually ended up supporting communism. At this stage, the Nazi era was rapidly growing in Australia and Germany. This led to people fleeing from their home countries in search of peace and stability. He quickly seized the opportunity to help the needy, the sick and the helpless as a cover up for his true identity of being a communist supporter from the British government. He later became a member of the Anglo-Germany fellowship where many Nazi supporters preferred this fellowship. He became a reporter of a local magazine “The Times” where he used to write some nice articles about France. The career was also a disguise to source for and channel viable information during the Spanish Civil War.
To appreciate his good work he was greatly awarded by the British. He was appointed as a senior officer by the British Intelligence. Through him, there was the formation of Berlin Blockage in 1948. Not many years later was Philby compromised. He colluded with the Soviet Union as a spy, a practice that greatly caused and destroyed the British Intelligence (SIS). The information leaks by Philby in 1940’s and 1950’s gave the Soviet Union the power against the British. This turning point occurred during his time in Cambridge. He was in support of the Communist ideas thus his divergence together with his friends way back from school life.
Donald Maclean, Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess and Kim Philby were referred as the ‘Cambridge Four' during their time in Cambridge University. They gained the name due to their relationship with the Soviet Union. They both worked as spies for the Soviet Union. The ‘Cambridge four’ brought massive destructions to the British intelligence. Nobody at the moment knew how the Soviet Union was able to trace all the British Intelligence activities. Philby was able to trick all his workmates that he was a genuine person who was working for the welfare of the British intelligence. Philby was able to be appointed to the MI6‘s so that he could train in propaganda. He did this in the Section D Training School. At some point, Philby secret was about to be revealed. Walter Krivitsky, who was a KGB officer, said that there were some people who were spying for the Soviet Union. Some descriptions given by Walter marched Philby’s, but none of his workmate could believe that he could be a traitor. Philby under the MI6 was appointed to manage Soviet Union affairs. This gave him even better position to spy for the Soviet Union.
Philby was able to join the Secret Service through his father’s help. His father managed to convince the head of SIS, Sir Stewart Menzies, to take up Philby. While working with the SIS, he was able to defeat the Germans. This led to him being appreciated by the British Intelligence community. He did this to cover up for his true nature as a spy. On October 1944, the British government appointed him to work in the SIS, Section IX, where he initiated the creation of an anti-communist department. Philby was nominated by Sir Stewart Menzies in 1945 for the award, the order of the British Empire. This award was due to his good work in the wartime intelligence. In 1946, he went to Turkey to serve as the Secretary of the Foreign Office.
Several months later, he went to United States and worked as a secretary to the British Ambassador, in Washington. Philby was named as a Soviet Union spy by Ismail Akhmedov, but Philby quickly resigned to counter any possible effects. It worked to his good. Harold MacMillan recognized him as a principled citizen due to his resignation decision, leading to his reappointment to the SIS. Philby protection by Nicholas Elliot led to his progress in the SIS as their friendship had survived many years since Cambridge. They did the same job. The only difference was that Philby was living a double life. Therefore, whenever accusations rose about him, Elliot would be there to protect him.
Later on, Menzies appointed Philby to be a secretary to the British embassy in Washington. It also worked to his good as it helped him identify with his communism supporters in the United States leading to his progress in his work. He was also appointed to be the head in the SIS in a section that dealt with the Soviet Union affairs leading to gaining of cheap information about the British plans. The relationship between Philby and the Soviet Union continued to flourish. The Soviet Union had a better place in winning the war than their enemies. The Soviet Union was the one having the upper hand in the situation leading to a good relationship between the two.
Philby would serve as secretary to the British ambassador and also act as a liaison officer between the SIS and the two American departments, CIA and FBI. In Washington, he was able to meet his communist supporters like James Angleton where they planned their moves. He also gained information about his friends Burgess and Maclean that they were suspected to be spies and had exiled already due to their own safety. He informed them of his plans. Many months did not pass before he fled to Moscow, Russia. The SIS’s section D’s work during the interwar SIS was keen enough to set up a good relationship together with the diplomatic service so that diplomatic immunity could be. At the world war two eras, the SIS, its functions were clouded by some other factors like the feeding of Germans the wrong information. Many failures were experienced by the SIS leading to the name Venio incident. During the post-war period, the SIS work was highly paralyzed by Philby. Philby at the moment was the head of Counter- Espionage section, R5, which dealt with USSR affairs. SIS started improving when serious vetting was done to all the people interested in working under it.
During the SIS period in Spain and Portugal, Philby was given the capacity to be in charge. The Germans in Spain were doing a brilliant job in spying using hidden cameras at the Western Mediterranean. The Spanish civil war led to the loss of many lives. Philby went to Spain to cover about the Spanish civil war but also contributed to the failures of SIS since Philby would inform the Soviet Union about the SIS plans. SIS activities in Berlin were...