James Bond has fuelled infatuation with real life spies, says historian Ben MacIntyre

The success of the 007 film franchise, and Ian Fleming's novels before it are credited with a continued public fascination with spies and spying.

Perhaps the most infamous British spy was Kim Philby, a double agent working for Moscow during the time of the Cold War. His name lives on in public memory, partly thanks to the popularity of fictional spies, Ben MacIntyre admits.

"Don't underestimate the influence of James Bond, our biggest export," the author told Aljazeera. "But these stories are also the backdrop for betrayal, love, for all these other things that we're fascinated by."

MacIntyre is the author of a new book about Philby, "A Spy Among Friends". He previously worked with the Imperial War Museum back in 2008 to put together a book accompanying the exhibit they hosted for the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth. You can read MI6's interview with the author here.

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