The Book of Spies: An Anthology of Literary Espionage

Here is an extraordinary collection of the world’s best literary espionage, selected by Alan Furst, a contemporary master of the genre. The Book of Spies brings us the aristocratic intrigues of The Scarlet Pimpernel, in which French émigrés duel with Robespierre’s secret service; the savage political realities of the 1930s in Eric Ambler’s classic A Coffin for Dimitrios ; the ordinary (well, almost) citizens of John le Carré’s The Russia House , who are drawn into Cold War spy games; and the 1950s Vietnam of Graham Greene’s The Quiet American , with its portrait of American idealism and duplicity. Drawing on acknowledged classics and rediscovered treasures, A Book of Spies delivers literate entertainment and excitement on every page.