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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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092589
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09258900.030
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1990-09-17
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WORLD, Page 41World NotesESPIONAGEThe Perfect Spy Story
By acclamation, the late Kim Philby holds the title Spy of the
Century, and the tale of his flight to the Soviet Union in 1963 is
still being retold in books and movies. Three of his fellow spies
in England -- Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and Anthony Blunt -- were
also unmasked. But there has long been suspicion that there was a
fifth man and much speculation about his identity. Last week the
KGB offered confirmation of sorts. After a Moscow screening of a
propaganda film on the Soviet intelligence service, British
correspondent Rupert Cornwell buttonholed Yuri Modin, who had been
the KGB's controller for the Philby network, and asked the
fifth-man question. "Yes, there was," replied Modin, then declined
to provide any clue to the man's identity.
Cornwell is the half-brother of spy novelist John Le Carre
(real name: David Cornwell), and perhaps has a special interest in
the genre. Though Cornwell's story was front-paged in his London
paper, the Independent, British intelligence experts feigned
boredom and suggested that Soviet spooks were simply trying to stir
up a bit of mischief.
The Brits' blase attitude was perhaps understandable. The
revelation came after the screening of a KGB film that went to
absurd lengths to present its intelligence agents as humane,
sensitive blokes with a fondness for cooking and poetry.