No Ordinary Man

'A brilliantly researched and revelatory book, written with compelling authority and great narrative drive. Completely fascinating' William Boyd.

Love and Deception is the extraordinary story of Eleanor, an able, cultured American woman living in the espionage hot spot of 1950s Beirut and - despite herself - falling in love with the kindest, most sensitive of men, a Lebanon-based journalist with a mysterious past. Unknown to her, the young, idealistic Kim Philby had signed up to help the Russians fight fascism in the 1930s and was to become the 20th century's most notorious double agent. But not only did he adore and marry her - just as the British authorities were closing in on him - but their love survived the most shattering of calamities.

Drawing on some of those closest to the main players, Love and Deception sheds new light on the love of Philby's life and breaks remarkable new ground in revealing the loyalty of his Cambridge contemporaries and the failure of the British authorities to convict them.