Kim Philby turned to drink after defection to Soviet Union

Kim Philby, the British double agent who defected to the Soviet Union in 1963, admitted whilst living in his communist heaven that communism....err......sucked. Can you imagine being totally in love with the idea that you commit treason against your country to go to live in the reality of the USSR? Coming from the once glorious England, it sure must have been a bit of an eye opener back in 1963. But never mind Mr Philby - you aren't the only one to fall for the commie dream. Just look at most industrialised countries today and you'll find some of your fellow ideological comrades still jumping up and down to live under the hammer and sickle. After all, communism has brought such wealth and success to every country that's embraced it.....

Communism - a great idea, but there's just no money in it.

 Hat tip: Julian B

Kim Philby, the British double agent, tried to drink himself to death in Russia after losing faith in communism, his last wife has claimed.

Rufina Pukhova, a Russian-Polish woman who married Philby after he defected to the Soviet Union in 1963, said he had also been depressed by his failings in the years leading up to his death.

She told a Russian newspaper that Cambridge-educated Philby, who died in 1988, would drink two glasses of cognac a night before asking her to hide the bottle as his drinking threatened to get out of hand.

Philby was viewed as a traitor in Britain after his work as a double agent for the KGB was made public, but was welcomed as a hero in Russia – a reputation that remains to this day.

He found occasional work as an adviser to the KGB but soon became isolated and disenchanted with his surroundings.
 
Mrs Pukhova said: "Kim believed in a just society and devoted his whole life to communism. And here he was struck by disappointment, brought to tears. He said, 'Why do old people live so badly here? After all, they won the war'."
 
Source