The Private Life of Kim Philby The Moscow Years Hardcover - 2000

From the publisher

Many books have been written about Kim Philby, the man often called the most remarkable spy in the history of espionage, but little is known about the last twenty-five years of his life after he defected to Moscow in 1963. Now his Russian widow, Rufina, breaks her silence to tell the truth about her eighteen years of marriage to the British-born spy and his turbulent life in the Soviet Union. Not only was the Soviet master spy shunned by a suspicious KGB -- contrary to Western reports awarding him the rank of a KGB general -- but Philby was also kept under constant surveillance as his life increasingly spiraled into despair and alcoholism. He was rescued from his plight by Rufina, who nursed him back to health and eventually helped persuade the KGB to end his isolation. Recovering under her care Philby began the second volume of his autobiography, traveled widely in the Eastern bloc, and began to deal more confidently with the grim reality of life in the Soviet Union as it was speeding toward collapse. Along with Rufina's extraordinary account this book also includes Philby's unpublished memoirs, which give fresh insight into his youthful commitment to Communism and his recruitment by the Soviets.