Robert Verkaik

The friendship between Graham Greene and Kim Philby is one of the most mysterious of the twentieth century. Greene, the internationally lauded novelist who wrestled with the themes of faith and betrayal in his work. Philby, the British intelligence-officer-turned-spy for the Soviets. The two men met as young MI6 officers in war-torn London, working together to defeat the Nazis. But after Greene suddenly resigned just days before D-Day, questions started to arise. He turned back to literature, using his experience in the intelligence services as a backdrop for his novel Our Man in Havana and the screenplay of The Third Man. Was Philby the real ‘third man’? Did Greene’s work contain coded messages and warnings of betrayal to MI6? Robert is the former home affairs editor of the Independent and the former security editor of the Mail on Sunday. He now writes for the Guardian.