British Author Challenge August 2022: Espionage
Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2022
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1amanda4242
August: Espionage
Goldfinger (1964)
Since Britain gave us the world's most famous spy*, it's only appropriate we have a month dedicated to espionage.
*I would think being a famous spy would make you a failure as a spy, but what do I know?
Suggestions
Assignment in Brittany by Helen MacInnes
Reilly: Ace of Spies by Robin Bruce Lockhart
Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean
Spymistress by William Stevenson
The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth
Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park edited by F. H. Hinsley & Alan Stripp
An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
The Ipcress File by Len Deighton
Sir Francis Walsingham: A Courtier in an Age of Terror by Derek Wilson
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
Ashenden, or, The British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carré
From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming
The Liar by Stephen Fry
Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks
Greenmantle by John Buchan
Anthony Blunt: His Lives by Miranda Carter
Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie
Elizabeth’s Spymaster by Robert Hutchinson
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
The Launching of Roger Brook by Dennis Wheatley
The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss
A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII by Sarah Helm
The Key to Rebecca by Ken Follett
My Silent War: The Autobiography of a Spy by Kim Philby
Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell
The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia by Peter Hopkirk
Goldfinger (1964)
Since Britain gave us the world's most famous spy*, it's only appropriate we have a month dedicated to espionage.
*I would think being a famous spy would make you a failure as a spy, but what do I know?
Suggestions
Assignment in Brittany by Helen MacInnes
Reilly: Ace of Spies by Robin Bruce Lockhart
Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean
Spymistress by William Stevenson
The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth
Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park edited by F. H. Hinsley & Alan Stripp
An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
The Ipcress File by Len Deighton
Sir Francis Walsingham: A Courtier in an Age of Terror by Derek Wilson
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
Ashenden, or, The British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carré
From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming
The Liar by Stephen Fry
Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks
Greenmantle by John Buchan
Anthony Blunt: His Lives by Miranda Carter
Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie
Elizabeth’s Spymaster by Robert Hutchinson
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
The Launching of Roger Brook by Dennis Wheatley
The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss
A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII by Sarah Helm
The Key to Rebecca by Ken Follett
My Silent War: The Autobiography of a Spy by Kim Philby
Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell
The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia by Peter Hopkirk
2PaulCranswick
I am rather spoiled for choice this month, Amanda.
Could be Forsyth, Le Carre, Deighton, MacInnes, Bagley, Ambler, McIntyre
I may even go on a binge!
Could be Forsyth, Le Carre, Deighton, MacInnes, Bagley, Ambler, McIntyre
I may even go on a binge!
3amanda4242
I'm in the mood for some James Bond.
4fuzzi
>1 amanda4242: Perfect! I have Alistair MacLean and Helen MacInnes books on my shelves, still unread. Most of the MacLeans I've read so far were good, but I'd highly recommend When Eight Bells Toll, as well as Partisans, The Guns of Navarone, and The Black Shrike. Leon Uris wrote a very good story of WWII espionage in Greece The Angry Hills. He's better known for his excellent QB VII.
Addendum: Leon Uris was from the USA, doesn't qualify for this challenge, but I'd still recommend that book.
Addendum: Leon Uris was from the USA, doesn't qualify for this challenge, but I'd still recommend that book.
5m.belljackson
How about DEFENDING THE ROCK by Nicholas Rankin?
6cbl_tn
Agatha Christie occasionally ventured into espionage, and I'll be reading her Destination Unknown.
8fairywings
I just unpacked a rather large bag of books and there are a good number of Helen MacInnes books. Good timing I think.
9fuzzi
>8 fairywings: I've read one of her books, enjoyed it enough to pick up others to read later.
10fairywings
>9 fuzzi: That's good to know fuzzi.
11amanda4242
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
'It's not difficult to get a Double O number if you're prepared to kill people,' he said.
The very first James Bond novel is significantly less action packed than what the past 60 years of onscreen adventures have been. The book does have a small explosion, a short fight, a car chase, and a (fairly tame) torture scene, but most of the tension is over a game of baccarat, where the success of the mission rest entirely on the turn of a card.
This is a re-read for me and I was struck by how out of step with the times Bond is even when considered by the standards of the era. When the book came out in 1953 Britain was still trying to recover from WWII and there was still food rationing in place, but Bond is swanning about at a casino that is the epitome of pre-war elegance; he's betting thousands of pounds at the tables, driving around in a 1933 Bentley, and his only concern about food is getting the waiter to bring enough toast to go with his caviar.
'It's not difficult to get a Double O number if you're prepared to kill people,' he said.
The very first James Bond novel is significantly less action packed than what the past 60 years of onscreen adventures have been. The book does have a small explosion, a short fight, a car chase, and a (fairly tame) torture scene, but most of the tension is over a game of baccarat, where the success of the mission rest entirely on the turn of a card.
This is a re-read for me and I was struck by how out of step with the times Bond is even when considered by the standards of the era. When the book came out in 1953 Britain was still trying to recover from WWII and there was still food rationing in place, but Bond is swanning about at a casino that is the epitome of pre-war elegance; he's betting thousands of pounds at the tables, driving around in a 1933 Bentley, and his only concern about food is getting the waiter to bring enough toast to go with his caviar.
13amanda4242
James Bond Vol. 1: Vargr by Warren Ellis
A very good graphic novel outing for 007. The story is engaging, the characters are well crafted, Jason Masters's does a great job drawing the action sequences, and there's a touch of humor to keep things from getting too heavy.
A very good graphic novel outing for 007. The story is engaging, the characters are well crafted, Jason Masters's does a great job drawing the action sequences, and there's a touch of humor to keep things from getting too heavy.
14amanda4242
September's List of the Month is Best Spy Fiction.
https://www.librarything.com/list/43868/all/Best-Spy-Fiction
https://www.librarything.com/list/43868/all/Best-Spy-Fiction
