He was a high-ranking member of British intelligence, a socialist and served as an NKVD and KGB operative. In 1963, Philby was revealed as a member of the spy ring now known as the Cambridge Five. Philby is believed to have been most successful in providing classified information to the Soviet Union. These activities were only lessened by Stalin's paranoia that Philby was a triple agent.
Background
Harold was nicknamed after the protagonist in Rudyard Kipling's novel "Kim". It is about a young Irish Indian boy who spies for the British in India during the 19th century. Philby attended Aldro preparatory school. Following in the footsteps of his father, he continued to Westminster School, which he left in 1928 at the age of 16. He won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read history and economics.
Education
Philby studied history and economics at Trinity College, Cambridge where he was introduced to and became an admirer of Communism.
Career
He began work as a sub-editor of a Liberal monthly review, and joined Guy Burgess as a member of the Anglo-German Fellowship. To cover up his communist background he also made repeated visits to Berlin for talks with the German Propaganda Ministry and with von Ribbentrop's Foreign Office.