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Harold Adrian Russell Philby was known to everyone as Kim. Four years after the infamous defection to the Soviet Union of British diplomats Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, Kim was preparing to hold a press conference at his mother's Kensington flat.

Ever since the disappearance of the two defectors behind the Iron Curtain, whispers of another betrayal - a so-called "Third Man" started to hang like a dark cloud over Kim Philby’s head.

And so there he sat, ready to set the record straight.

When asked point-blank whether he was the "third man" who had tipped off Burgess and Maclean, he met the question with measured calm, denial.

This infamous proclamation of his innocence was delivered with such sincerity that he was able momentarily to silence his accusers.

The press conference in many ways served its purpose, allowing Kim Philby to continue on for the next 8 years.

He had, of course, been lying through his teeth. It was only after he disappeared in 1963 that questions started to be asked. How could this have happened? Did British intelligence know about it all along and did they allow him to flee to avoid an even greater scandal?

Even today, in 2025 newly declassified documents are shedding fresh light on this most extraordinary case of intrigue and betrayal.

This is the story of Kim Philby, the Cold War's most notorious spy and traitor.

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