My Silent War : The Autobiography of a Spy

by Phillip Knightley, Kim Philby

Release Date: 24 September, 2002

Edition: Paperback

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A confused spy

I agree with the previous reviewer, so you don't need to read this review any further if you don't want to. Kim Philby's personality is evident in this book and will therefore be a useful aid to anyone doing a psychological study. The usefullness will not come from what he reveals but in what he does not reveal and how he does not reveal it. This man is a true spy. A concealer and obfuscator at heart, this book is all smoke and mirrors and no substance. It's a whole lot liek the PR from movie stars and the White House. The words never really answer your question because as is the case in this book, it never takes one to the heart of the matter and fails to satisfy the curiosity, which I guess, is the reason why anyone would buy this book. Forget it. You don't find anything out. In the first few pages he tells you straight off (because, as the previous reviewer said, he is more intelligent than us) that he won't be telling us how and why he was contacted by the communists. Need I say more. THAT is the thing that I wanted to know. Thank god, I got this book from the local library. Back it goes, mostly unread.

Kim Philby: The Silent Rat

There is precious little excitement between the pages of "My Silent War" to titillate the reader. We should remember that no spy worthy of the name would sit down and bare his soul, spilling trade secrets. Philby is no exception. Very little is revealed in "MSW". There are 3 points of minimal interest: The first is to observe how Philby jockeys and maneuvers for position in a competitive bureaucracy-the British Secret Service. That would be the same Secret Service he sold out. The second is a surprisingly strong introduction, which gives the plot context that Philby failed to provide. The third entails his brief station in Washington (circa 1950) as head of British counter-intelligence in the US. The noose closes in on fellow spies Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and the author himself. (Suspicions again arise about his '"loyalty" upon his return to England.) No point justifies the purchase price! The bottom line is that Kim Philby was a hard core Communist spy in the best Cold War tradition, He was a traitor to his country. He broke into small pieces whatever oaths he gave to England and his Queen. Added to that mix is his overtly snide contempt for his readers. (He is so much smarter than we are, you know). The best example of this is on page 193 when under suspicion in England and evading his surveillance, he meets clandestinely with his Russian handlers. "What passed there", we are informed, "is of no concern to the reader". No concern? Then why reveal the incident all! What a conceited little snob! The British have a word for books like this: "RUBBISH"!