A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal

by Ben Macintyre

Like secrecy, the erotic charge of infidelity can be hard to renounce.

an alcoholic has already become divorced from his or her real self, hooked on an artificial reality.

British breeding and schooling produce a very distinctive brand of protective dishonesty.

the privately educated Englishman ‘is the greatest dissembler on earth . . . Nobody will charm you so glibly, disguise his feelings from you better, cover his tracks more skilfully or find it harder to confess to you that he’s been a damn fool . . . He can have a Force Twelve nervous breakdown while he stands next to you in the bus queue and you may be his best friend but you’ll never be the wiser.’