I’m looking for books not about the Cold War (I already took plenty of classes about it in college) but novels that feature the zeitgeist of it. I’ve read most of the bigger/well-known espionage novels (Le Carré, Eric Ambler, Clancy, Furst, etc) but am looking for more. Not especially interested in things with romances but especially interested in thriller/diplomacy/espionage and stuff in-between (basically anything but romances). Thanks!
by imwatchingsouthpark
6 Comments
If you’re open to some supernatural elements, you can’t go wrong with Declare by Tim Powers. It’s super weird, very well written, and gives you a totally authentic Le Carre historical vibe.
Blurb: As a young double agent infiltrating the Soviet spy network in Nazi-occupied Paris, Andrew Hale finds himself caught up in a secret, even more ruthless war. Two decades later, in 1963, he will be forced to confront again the nightmarethat has haunted his adult life: a lethal unfinished operation code-named Declare. From the corridors of Whitehall to the Arabian desert, from post-war Berlin to the streets of Cold War Moscow, Hale’s desperate quest draws him into international politics and gritty espionage tradecraft — and inexorably drives Hale, the fiery and beautiful Communist agent Elena Teresa Ceniza-Bendiga, and Kim Philby, mysterious traitor to the British cause, to a deadly confrontation on the high glaciers of Mount Ararat, in the very shadow of the fabulous and perilous Ark.
Confessional by Jack Higgins. He might have some other Russian bases books, but not too sure. I’ve pretty much only read his Dillon books so far.
Have you read The Company by Robert Littell? Its a fictional retelling of the history of the CIA through the cold war. I wouldn’t call it a spy novel as much as a historical epic that happens to center around espionage.
For an insightful look at military life during the American Civil War, ‘The Red Badge of Courage’ by Stephen Crane is my go-to suggestion. This novel delves into the psyche of a young soldier grappling with fear and bravery in equal measure.
Seven Days in May by Fletcher Knebel &Charles W. Bailey II. It was written in 1962 and is a taught political thriller that takes place at the height of the cold war and the threat of nuclear war pervades the story.
I must betray you