Evil people are not supposed to look like the handsome prince, but Philby did, and that also played a part in keeping suspicion away from him. Charm and good looks are always difficult to accept in a villain. The book was well-researched and well-written, a thorough biography of the charismatic, fascinating and clever Philby. Who the fifth was is a matter of conjecture still. The others were Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt (a cousin of the Queen Mother) and Donald MacLean. There was a coterie of them, the Cambridge Five, Philby was one. One doesn't question one's friends does one? They are all such decent chaps! Like fuck they were. This is what enabled him to get away with, quite literally, murder, for years. To be a spy in Britain at that time, you had to be from a certain background, with the essential confidence of being at the top of the social tree. So when recruited at 18 by MI6, he sees it as his opportunity to give Russia a helping hand. Like so many students, Philby confused communism with a great levelling, an equality among men.
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