The Book of Spies: An Anthology of Literary Espionage (Modern Library) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 067964251X ISBN 13: 9780679642510

Publisher: Modern Library, 2003

Synopsis

An anthology of the world’s best literary espionage, selected by a contemporary master of the genre, Alan Furst.

Here is an extraordinary collection of work from some of the finest novelists of the twentieth century. Inspired by the politics of tyranny or war, each of these writers chose the base elements of spy fiction—highly evolved spy fiction—as the framework for a literary novel. Thus Alan Furst offers a diverse array of selections that combine raw excitement and intellectual sophistication in an expertly guided tour of the dark world of clandestine conflict.

These are not just stories of professional intelligence officers. We meet diplomats, political police, agents provocateurs, secret operatives, resistance fighters, and assassins—players in the Great Game, or victims of the Cold War. 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 citizens (well, almost) 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, Alan Furst’s The Book of Spies delivers literate entertainment and excitement on every page.

About this title

About the Author

Alan Furst is widely recognized as the master of the historical spy novel. He is the author of Night Soldiers, Dark Star, The Polish Officer, The World at Night, Red Gold, Kingdom of Shadows, and Blood of Victory, all of which are available as Random House Trade Paperbacks. Born in New York, he has lived for long periods in France, especially Paris. He now lives on Long Island, New York.

From Booklist

Furst, one of our best modern espionage writers (Kingdom of Shadows), brings together selections from the work of some of the genre's founders and a few of its most celebrated practitioners. This being a Modern Library edition, the emphasis is on the literary side of spy fiction, so it's no surprise to find work by everybody's highbrow division Big Three--Conrad, Greene, and le Carre-- but even with the obvious authors, Furst shows some spirit in his selections. With le Carre, for example, we don't get the expected Smiley moment but, instead, are offered the marvelous opening from the less-known but superb Russia House. Furst is very good, both in his introduction and in the blurbs that precede each selection, at pinpointing the influence on the genre of the various authors, especially such pioneers as Eric Ambler and W. Somerset Maugham, whose Ashenden, excerpted here, is often considered to have paved the way for the disenchanted spies of Greene and others. A superior anthology for anyone interested in the roots of espionage fiction. Bill Ott
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About this edition

• Publisher: Modern Library
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 067964251X
• ISBN 13: 9780679642510
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400
• Editor: Furst Alan