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1MissWatson
One of the grandmasters of spy fiction was born on 19 October 1931: John le Carré. What better reason to explore this fascinating genre now?
Espionage is sometimes named the world’s second-oldest profession. It is likely the old Sumerians had informers at the courts of their neighbours and enemies, never mind the Greeks, Romans or Egyptians. So here are a few suggestions for historical spies and their employers:
Lindsey Davis’ Marcus Didius Falco occasionally works as an informer for Vespasian, travels across the Empire and reports back. Francis Walsingham is famous for the spies he used in service of Queen Elizabeth I, The queen’s agent, and so is Cardinal Richelieu who ran France on behalf of the King: think of Lady de Winter in The three musketeers. Napoleon Bonaparte used spies widely, and Georgette Heyer’s The reluctant widow gets embroiled with one of them. Stephen Maturin in Patrick O’Brian’s series freelances for the Admiralty as a spy. There is Laura Joh Rowland (Japan). And let’s not forget The Scarlet Pimpernel!
The Victorians regarded spying as fit for scoundrels only, so the lower classes are the ones who keep the Empire safe in Kim, one of the seminal tales of the genre.
After the turn of the century, amateurs picked up the baton when the British saw the rise of rivals in the USA and newly-united Germany. This is a theme, for instance in The riddle of the sands. John Buchan, Oberst Redl Waiting for sunrise, Mata Hari, Dreyfus are well-known names of this time.
The First World war saw the establishment of various secret services, the Second World War added more. The Cold War lasted longer than both and arguably produced the finest crop of spy writers: Len Deighton, John LeCarré, Ian Fleming, Frederick Forsyth, Ken Follett, Eric Ambler, Alan Furst. Other names worth checking out are Brian Fremantle (the Charlie Muffin series), Anthony Price, Gavin Lyall, Tom Clancy, Helen MacInnes, Jan Guillou, Martin Cruz Smith. If you’re looking for something humorous, you could try Our man in Havana.
These days, spies are mostly concerned with terrorism and industrial espionage. A name that springs to mind is the former head of MI6 now writing thrillers, Stella Rimington.
Most governments have also spent an amazing amount of manpower on spying on their own people: the FBI, MI5, the Stasi, the Gestapo, the GPU/NKVD/KGB, to name the most widely known.
And then, of course, there are codes and codebreakers, e.g. The code book.
Have fun choosing your book and don’t forget to update the Wiki!
Espionage is sometimes named the world’s second-oldest profession. It is likely the old Sumerians had informers at the courts of their neighbours and enemies, never mind the Greeks, Romans or Egyptians. So here are a few suggestions for historical spies and their employers:
Lindsey Davis’ Marcus Didius Falco occasionally works as an informer for Vespasian, travels across the Empire and reports back. Francis Walsingham is famous for the spies he used in service of Queen Elizabeth I, The queen’s agent, and so is Cardinal Richelieu who ran France on behalf of the King: think of Lady de Winter in The three musketeers. Napoleon Bonaparte used spies widely, and Georgette Heyer’s The reluctant widow gets embroiled with one of them. Stephen Maturin in Patrick O’Brian’s series freelances for the Admiralty as a spy. There is Laura Joh Rowland (Japan). And let’s not forget The Scarlet Pimpernel!
The Victorians regarded spying as fit for scoundrels only, so the lower classes are the ones who keep the Empire safe in Kim, one of the seminal tales of the genre.
After the turn of the century, amateurs picked up the baton when the British saw the rise of rivals in the USA and newly-united Germany. This is a theme, for instance in The riddle of the sands. John Buchan, Oberst Redl Waiting for sunrise, Mata Hari, Dreyfus are well-known names of this time.
The First World war saw the establishment of various secret services, the Second World War added more. The Cold War lasted longer than both and arguably produced the finest crop of spy writers: Len Deighton, John LeCarré, Ian Fleming, Frederick Forsyth, Ken Follett, Eric Ambler, Alan Furst. Other names worth checking out are Brian Fremantle (the Charlie Muffin series), Anthony Price, Gavin Lyall, Tom Clancy, Helen MacInnes, Jan Guillou, Martin Cruz Smith. If you’re looking for something humorous, you could try Our man in Havana.
These days, spies are mostly concerned with terrorism and industrial espionage. A name that springs to mind is the former head of MI6 now writing thrillers, Stella Rimington.
Most governments have also spent an amazing amount of manpower on spying on their own people: the FBI, MI5, the Stasi, the Gestapo, the GPU/NKVD/KGB, to name the most widely known.
And then, of course, there are codes and codebreakers, e.g. The code book.
Have fun choosing your book and don’t forget to update the Wiki!
2VivienneR
Great intro! Stella Rimington, a new name to me, sounds interesting.
I plan to re-read le Carré's George Smiley series and have the first one, Call for the Dead, on board for October.
I plan to re-read le Carré's George Smiley series and have the first one, Call for the Dead, on board for October.
3DeltaQueen50
I am planning on reading Dark Voyage by Alan Furst. It's been awhile since I read one of his atmospheric espionage stories so I am looking forward to it.
4christina_reads
I'm thinking about The Spy Wore Red by Aline, Countess of Romanones. It's not a mystery novel but a memoir about espionage in World War II. I'll likely read it whether or not I decide to count it for this CAT.
5lsh63
I think I will read whatever book is next for me in the Maggie Hope series, I think it's His Majesty's Hope.
6dudes22
I think I'll read the next one in the John Le Carre series The Spy Who Came In From the Cold
7LibraryCin
Sigh. I knew it was coming, but I just did espionage for a challenge at GR a couple of months ago! That being said, I have a great recommendation:
The Alice Network / Kate Quinn.
I will have to see what I still have on my tbr...
The Alice Network / Kate Quinn.
I will have to see what I still have on my tbr...
8LibraryCin
Ok, so the likely one for me is:
Mata Hari's Last Dance / Michelle Moran
I also have this on my tbr, but my library doesn't have it. I could request via ILL, but it usually takes a while to get here:
Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love
Mata Hari's Last Dance / Michelle Moran
I also have this on my tbr, but my library doesn't have it. I could request via ILL, but it usually takes a while to get here:
Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love
9LittleTaiko
Maybe I’ll finally finish Zoo Station. I’ve started the book at least once and stalled in the middle. Time to read it or donate it.
10benitastrnad
I am going to try to read another in the Jack Russell World War II seres. Masaryk Station by Davd Downing. That will be the final one in that series. I am also going to try to get to Redemption by C. J. Sansom. I have read three of the Matthew Shardlake series and would like to bring this series up-to-date. This series is set in England during the reign of Henry VIII and Matthew works for Cardinal Wolsey. The series is set in the time of the Desolution of the Monasteries.
11leslie.98
>3 DeltaQueen50: Oh, I have a bunch of Alan Furst books from my dad - maybe I'll read one of those!
12whitewavedarling
I'm planning to read Leaving Berlin--I revisited one of Joseph Kanon's works last month, and it's left me wanting more of his work :)
13beebeereads
Just heard a podcast from The Guardian interviewing Kate Atkinson about her new book Transcription. I'll see if I can get on the list for October arrival at the library. Was also considering Red Sparrow. I'll see where my reading mood is if/when the books become available. Knowing me there'll be another one that pushes its way into my life before then!
14leslie.98
I just finished Epitaph for a Spy (read for Sept.'s AlphaKIT) and would recommend it if you like the innocent person caught up in espionage by mistake type story.
15VivienneR
>14 leslie.98: Like you, my AlphaKIT choice for this month would make a good choice for this category. Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre was the story of Eddie Chapman, a one-time safe-breaker and burglar who became a double agent. It reads more like an adventure story.
16DeltaQueen50
I have completed Dark Voyage by Alan Furst and found this to be a great story as a Dutch Ship Captain is recruited by Dutch Intelligence and works with the British on a number of missions during WW II.
17fuzzi
>6 dudes22: excellent...but I don't want to reread it.
18staci426
I've finished and enjoyed Moonraker by Ian Fleming, book 3 in James Bond. I'd also like to get to A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman for thismonth, but not sure if I'll be able to fit it in.
19AHS-Wolfy
Been catching up on reviews and so far this month I've read two that qualify: Patriot Games by Tom Clancy and Casino Royale by Ian Fleming.
20lkernagh
I finally managed to read - well, listen to - Ian Fleming's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The movie adaptation is a favorite of mine so I was happy to see that they stayed true to the written story (more or less). The story is a bit dated but it is classic Bond.
21MissWatson
I have re-read Charlie M after nearly forty years and am happy to report that it has lost none of its bite.
It's the Cold War, MI6 has seen a major reshuffle after some disastrous event, and Charlie Muffin finds himself relegated to the lower ranks despite having brought down a major Soviet spy ring. And now an even bigger fish looms: a KGB general is making overtures to defect. Cue rivalries between the Brits and the US, inflated egos, backstabbings, secret meetings in Eastern Europe, and a very clever man playing two ends against the middle.
I hope the English intelligence services are no longer as class-ridden as they are shown in this book, but one never knows.
It's the Cold War, MI6 has seen a major reshuffle after some disastrous event, and Charlie Muffin finds himself relegated to the lower ranks despite having brought down a major Soviet spy ring. And now an even bigger fish looms: a KGB general is making overtures to defect. Cue rivalries between the Brits and the US, inflated egos, backstabbings, secret meetings in Eastern Europe, and a very clever man playing two ends against the middle.
I hope the English intelligence services are no longer as class-ridden as they are shown in this book, but one never knows.
22mathgirl40
I finished Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene. It's excellent satire and I really liked the main character, an inept vacuum cleaner salesperson who reluctantly agrees to be a spy so that he can pay for his overindulged daughter's purchases.
24MissWatson
I have also finished The secret agent by Joseph Conrad. I found this a little strange, he is so spare with the information he gives on his characters. We never learn the name of Mrs Verloc's mother, for instance. There's only one small indication on the time this is set, the date engraved in Winnie's wedding band. But the whole set-up of political police surveillance and informers is pretty much timeless. The means have changed, the attitudes remain.
The writing is very stilted, and comparing this to Susan Hill's The woman in black, which I read immediately after this, I was struck how much he relies on latin-based words, as if showing off his mastery of the vocabulary.
The writing is very stilted, and comparing this to Susan Hill's The woman in black, which I read immediately after this, I was struck how much he relies on latin-based words, as if showing off his mastery of the vocabulary.
25whitewavedarling
Finished Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon--as always, he writes a masterful book. I just adore his writing, and there's no brand of historical fiction I enjoy more.
26staci426
I was able to squeeze in A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman. I really enjoy this series. This installment brings Mrs. Pollifax to Switzerland looking for information about stolen plutonium.
27RidgewayGirl
>25 whitewavedarling: I agree with you, wholeheartedly. I'm reading Defectors now, and it's fantastic.
28rabbitprincess
>26 staci426: That one is one of my favourites in the series :) It will have to be my next re-read!
29benitastrnad
I still have to read a Mrs. Pollifax. I didn't even know about this series until about 5 years ago when a colleague introduced me to them.
30LibraryCin
I've had trouble with this one. I read one that had an "espionage" tag, but it really didn't fit. I'm now reading a 2nd one I chose, also with the tag, but I don't yet see how it will fit, either. :-(
31LibraryCin
...Looking back at the first one I tried, I suppose it could kind of fit, though it definitely wasn't a focus. If the one I'm currently reading doesn't turn out to work, I might just use the first one (Mata Hari's Last Dance).
32MissWatson
And I have also finished my John LeCarré: The Night Manager. However, this fell short of expectations. Men obsessing about other men's trophy girlfriends bores me, and the rest petered out without proper resolution. This may reflect real life better than the high-powered tech thrillers of Tom Clancy and his brethren, but it is also depressing.
33Familyhistorian
Spy novels are not really my thing (except for Mrs Pollifax, of course) but I have taken an occasional BB for them so Daniel Silva's The Unlikely Spy was on my library holds list. It showed it was in transit to my library – for 3 whole weeks! Which is my way of explaining why I won't finish it for this month. But I read the first chapter (actually three first chapters because I couldn't put it down). It starts in England during WWII and there is humour – Churchill wallowing in his bath while recruiting the potential spy. This looks like it is my kind of spy book!
34dudes22
>33 Familyhistorian: - My husband likes the Daniel Silva series and keeps encouraging me to try it. And I will some day...maybe I'll read the first one next year. Wish I had a good reason for not getting to my book this month, but I don't. Somehow the month just got away from me.
35Familyhistorian
>34 dudes22: This is my second book by Silva. The other The Kill Artist which was part of a series with hero Gabriel Allon. I am not sure if The Unlikely Spy is a stand alone or part of another series but it isn't set at the same time as the Allon series.
36dudes22
>35 Familyhistorian: - It is a stand alone - his only one it seems. I didn't realize he had written anything except the Allon series.
37Familyhistorian
>36 dudes22: Interesting. I wonder if he will do more stand alones?
38mathgirl40
I finished a second book for this theme, Passenger to Frankfurt. This was a very different type of Agatha Christie novel. The plot was a mess but I liked some of the characters. At first, it felt really dated to me, with its cold-war fears of dictatorships and neo-Nazi organizations, but then I looked at the recent news ....
39RidgewayGirl
I finished The Defectors by Joseph Kanon on Tuesday, just in time for this CAT!
40benitastrnad
I didn’t finish my two spy books for the month. I will be taking Masaryk Station (the last book in the Jack Russell series) by David Downing and Redemption by C. J. Samson (Matthew Shardlake series) with me on my Thanksgiving trip. I should be able to finish them at that time.
41LibraryCin
All right, well, the second book I tried with the "espionage" tag... well, I have no clue why someone tagged it that way!!! So, I'm not using it. The first book I tried did fit espionage (in a way), but wasn't really a mystery. I'm going to use it, anyway. :-)
Mata Hari's Last Dance / Michelle Moran
3.5 stars
Mata Hari was a well-known dancer/stripper (very high class, I suppose – she danced naked, anyway) in Europe in the early 20th century. She slept with men who could pay her way in life. She was later arrested, imprisoned, and put to death in France – the country she called home – via firing squad for being a spy for the Germans. This is Moran’s historical version of her life – at least from the time she started dancing, with flashbacks to the rest of her life.
I knew nothing of Mata Hari except for her name – not a thing. I read the book because I like the author, but this one wasn’t nearly as good as her others, I didn’t think. At least now I have an idea of who she was, though I can’t say I particularly liked her. I wonder if I would have been more sympathetic toward her if her life had been told chronologically, rather than in flashbacks? Either way, I’m rating the book good, although I feel a bit like that might be generous.
Mata Hari's Last Dance / Michelle Moran
3.5 stars
Mata Hari was a well-known dancer/stripper (very high class, I suppose – she danced naked, anyway) in Europe in the early 20th century. She slept with men who could pay her way in life. She was later arrested, imprisoned, and put to death in France – the country she called home – via firing squad for being a spy for the Germans. This is Moran’s historical version of her life – at least from the time she started dancing, with flashbacks to the rest of her life.
I knew nothing of Mata Hari except for her name – not a thing. I read the book because I like the author, but this one wasn’t nearly as good as her others, I didn’t think. At least now I have an idea of who she was, though I can’t say I particularly liked her. I wonder if I would have been more sympathetic toward her if her life had been told chronologically, rather than in flashbacks? Either way, I’m rating the book good, although I feel a bit like that might be generous.
42beebeereads
Well, my library hold for this cat just came in at the library Transcription looks really good and I will read it over the next month even though I missed this month.