Edward Harrison’s study of Kim Philby’s early career as a Soviet spy is original and, by turns, unsettling, revealing and tragic. It is also much more than a biography of what, in French parlance, would be called the emotional and intellectual formation of a traitor. Martin Thomas Such a lot has been written about Kim Philby and the Cambridge ... Read morespy ring that people may be forgiven for thinking that's enough. They would be wrong. There remains much, ranging from the exotic to the banal, to make the story of the Cambridge spies of perennial interest. Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, Defence and Security Blog This remarkable, intriguing, and highly detailed study of Philby in his early years answers many of these questions. Harrison has done the historical record a favor by going through recently declassified SIS records and matching what they tell about Philby with Russian academic research into those parts of the NKVD archives that became available to scholars after 1991. David Aikman, The Weekly Standard, Vol. 18, No.. 43 Harrison set himself the task of finding aspects of Philby’s life that had been missed by a dozen others who have pursued the same quarry, and he has succeeded admirably, even if the occasional detail can be faulted. The pluses far outweigh the few negatives, and those seeking to learn more about the complexities of a man whose name is synonymous with betrayal need look no further. ...Harrison’s valuable contribution amounts to plenty of original digging. Nigel West, International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, Volume 26, Number 4 Edward Harrison’s account of the life and career of Britain’s most infamous traitor, Kim Philby, is a welcome addition to the growing literature on the secret world of Anglo-Soviet intelligence history. … The Young Kim Philby, it will be a most welcome addition to this field of study. European History Quarterly, Volume 44, No. 1 Overall, The Young Kim Philby is a positive contribution to a familiar topic—solidly researched, well documented and informative. Studies in Intelligence Vol. 57, No. 1 Show Less