My Silent War

Written from Moscow in 1967, My Silent War shook the world and introduced a new archetype in fiction: the unrepentant spy. It inspired John le Carré's Smiley novels and the later espionage novels of Graham Greene. Kim Philby was history’s most successful spy. He was also an exceptional writer who gave us the great iconic story of the Cold War and revolutionised, in the process, the art of espionage writing.


"Far more gripping than any novel of espionage I can remember." — Graham Greene.


"Addictive … highly polished … written with style and a feline sense of irony,

making it a much better read than any of the other Philby literature." — The

Guardian.


Kim Philby. My Silent War. Moscow, 2020
Download in Russian
Unknown Philby

This collection includes six unique texts by Kim Philby and people close to him,

offering a fresh perspective on Philby himself, his era and the ideas that inspired the best people around the world to work with the Soviet Union.


"Unfinished Memoirs" is the beginning of Kim Philby’s second autobiographical

book. "A lecture to the senior staff of the First Chief Directorate of the Soviet KGB" from 1977 gives a brief account of the personal aspects of his professional journey, designed for intelligence professionals, showcasing his unfailing sense of humour and irony. "The Unpublished Article" relays Kim Philby’s advice to Soviet operatives on how to instruct agents facing exposure and interrogation, based on his own counterintelligence experience. "Kim Philby’s speech to the Bulgarian Interior Ministry leadership" from June 1973 is published here for the first time in Russian.


"Thinking for Kim…" by Mikhail Bogdanov, a retired SVR colonel, is a personal recollection from one of his students. Finally, a uniquely intimate view of Kim from the person closest to him, his wife Rufina, in excerpts from her book The Island on the Sixth Floor, about their eighteen years together. "I can say with certainty that the sunset of my life is golden!" Kim once remarked, and credit for that goes to Rufina.


The Unknown Philby. Moscow, 2020
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Artistic Theory in Italy, 1450−1660

The magnum opus of Anthony Blunt, a leading British art historian, Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures and a Soviet intelligence agent. His choice to fight fascism together with the Soviet Union was inspired by the same values of humanism embodied in the art of the Italian Renaissance. This book broadens the conventional understanding of the Italian Renaissance by concentrating on the various artistic theories which influenced artists or were expressed by them. Taking Alberti’s treatises as his starting point, Blunt traces the development of artistic theory from Humanism to Mannerism, examines the effect of the Council of Trent on religious art, and chronicles the successful struggle of the painters and sculptors themselves to elevate their status from craftsmen to creative artists.


Anthony Blunt. Artistic Theory in Italy, 1450−1660. Moscow, 2020
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The Cambridge Five

The book covers the activities of the Cambridge Five based on archival documents. The author, Vladimir Antonov (1943−2020), a historian of the intelligence service, worked in the Foreign Intelligence Service Press Office. Five chapters profile each of the members and describe their accomplishments. The man most responsible for their recruitment, the Soviet "illegal" intelligence officer Arnold Deutsch, a legend in his own right, is the subject of the first chapter. Kitty Harris, aka "Gipsy," a liaison for Donald Maclean and others, is also a fascinating figure in the history of Soviet intelligence.


Vladimir Antonov. The Cambridge Five. Moscow, 2018

In Russian

Kim Philby

Written by historian of the Soviet intelligence service Nikolay Dolgopolov, the book reveals a number of lesser known chapters from the life of the legendary intelligence officer after his flight from Beirut to Moscow in 1963, and offers a detailed narrative of the entire Cambridge Five. The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service provided the author with a number of unique declassified documents that have not been previously published. Of particular interest are Dolgopolov’s conversations with retired KGB officers who knew Kim Philby and were part of his Moscow life.


Nikolay Dolgopolov. Kim Philby. Moscow, 2011 Molodaya Gvardia

In Russian

Deadly Illusions

This book by Oleg Tsarev and John Costello focuses on the figure of Alexander Orlov, the Soviet intelligence rezident in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. In the mid-1930s, Orlov, one of the founding fathers of the Cambridge Five, personally supervised their activities. In 1938, Orlov fled to the United States, went into hiding and was considered a traitor. Indeed, in 1955, Orlov became a well-paid consultant for CIA counterintelligence. Earlier he published a book The Secret History of Stalin’s Crimes, excerpts of which had come out in 1952 as a series of articles in Life Magazine. However, he did not give up any information on the Cambridge Five. Based on documentary materials of the KGB, CIA and FBI, Deadly Illusions narrates the life and work of this controversial figure.


Oleg Tsarev, John Costello. Deadly Illusions. Moscow, 2011

Available in English on Archive.org

I Did it My Way

Published in 1997, this book presented for the first time many previously unpublished

texts by Kim Philby and his family. Of particular interest are Kim’s correspondence with friends, the memoires of his wife, Rufina Pukhova-Philby, and notes of his student Mikhail Bogdanov.


I Did It My Way: The Life and Intelligence Career of Kim Philby. Edited by Yury Kobaladze. Moscow, 1997

In Russian

The Life and Intelligence Work of Kim Philby

The collection includes the memoirs of Kim Philby, his correspondence with the

English writer Graham Greene, his interview with the Sunday Times newspaper, some previously unpublished articles by Kim, as well as the memoirs of his wife Rufina Pukhova-Philby.


The Life and Intelligence Work of Kim Philby. Collection of articles. Moscow, 2005

In Russian

Queen’s Advisor — Kremlin Super Agent

This book was the first publication in Russia about Anthony Blunt, the famous

English art historian, professor, distant relative of Queen Elizabeth, and a member of the legendary Cambridge Five. The author gives a comprehensive account of Blunt’s activities when he held high-ranking positions in the United Kingdom and of his work for Soviet intelligence. There are also excerpts from Blunt’s file from the archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of Russia, where Blunt was referred to by the code names "Ian," "Tony," "Johnson." The author of the book, Viktor Popov, is Russian diplomat, professor, laureate of the Soviet State Prize, Honorary Doctor of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.


Viktor Popov. The Queen’s Advisor — Kremlin Super Agent. Moscow, 2005

In Russian

The KGB in England

Written by Lieutenant Colonel of the KGB Foreign Intelligence Service Oleg Tsarev, who worked for many years in Britain as a journalist, and Nigel West, a British military historian and expert on intelligence. This is one of the most detailed histories of Soviet intelligence in Great Britain during the period 1920−1970. The book is based on declassified archival documents of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of Russia and the testimonies of the real-life figures featured in the book, the authors preserve the jargon and style of that time. Includes photos from the SVR archives.


Oleg Tsarev, Nigel West. The KGB in England. Moscow, 1999

Available in English on Archive.org

Espionage and Other Stories from the Archives of Russia and France

The book by Pyotr Cherkasov, PhD History, Chief Researcher at the Institute of

World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is the result of many years of archival research by the author, and includes a number of stories about the inner workings of Russian-French relations. The reader will learn unexpected facts from the history of diplomacy between the two countries. However, we are more interested in the pages that the author dedicates to Donald Maclean, aka "Homer," with whom he shared an office at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations. "I had always looked up to him, literally and figuratively," says Pyotr Cherkasov. "At the Institute there were many Communist Party members, but Maclean was a true Communist."


Pyotr Cherkasov. Espionage and Other Stories from the Archives of Russia and

France. Moscow, 2015

In Russian

Intelligence Officer. Man. Kim Philby

The author, General Todor Boyadzhiev, served for 30 years in Bulgarian intelligence,

ultimately reaching the number two spot. As a young intelligence officer, he took the Philbys around Bulgaria on their visits starting in May 1973 "In 15 years of friendship, we lived under the same roof for over half a year," says Todor. Boyadzhiev’s book presents Philby not only as a great intelligence professional, but also as an extraordinary individual, a man of integrity, honesty and dedication to the ideal he served throughout his life.


Todor Boyadzhiev Intelligence Officer. Man. Kim Philby. Yekaterinburg, 2015

In Russian

British Foreign Policy Since Suez, 1956−1968

The author of the book, Donald Maclean, was an extraordinary individual who led an extraordinary life. Under the threat of exposure and arrest, in May 1951, Maclean was exfiltrated from Britain to the Soviet Union, where he made his second home. He learned Russian and devoted himself entirely to history and political science, becoming one of the leading experts on international affairs at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO, USSR Academy of Sciences). It was within the walls of this institute that Maclean wrote this work, which was highly praised by his colleagues at IMEMO and abroad.


Donald Maclean. British Foreign Policy Since Suez, 1956−1968. Moscow, 1972

Available in English on Archive.org

The Philby Files: The Secret Life of Master Spy Kim Philby

Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with Kim Philby and unique access to his KGB files, a noted journalist offers an intricate portrait of the Cold War’s most notorious Soviet spy, answering many enduring questions about his espionage career.


Genrikh Borovik. The Philby Files: The Secret Life of Master Spy Kim Philby.

Boston, 1994

In English