In this riveting thriller that recalls Alfred Hitchcock in his prime, an innocent European businessman is inadvertently caught up in a murderous web of international intrigue and forced to run, hide, or die in the English countryside A man of considerable ambition, French and British export agent Georges Rivac is always eager to expand his client base, so he agrees without question to do a simple favor for an unknown Englishman. Charged with delivering an item to an address in London, Rivac is surprised to discover that his arrival is unexpected and unappreciated—and he’s shocked to learn soon afterward that his new client is dead. Suddenly the confused businessman is himself a target, pursued by unknown assailants and forced to flee the city, taking refuge in the wilds of rural England. Relying on his wits and dormant survival skills, as well as the help of a beautiful Hungarian freedom fighter, Georges Rivac must now somehow get to the root of the deadly international conspiracy that has placed him in a killer’s sights. A gripping adventure reminiscent of The 39 Steps and North by Northwest, The Last Two Weeks of Georges Rivac is a thriller in every sense—a masterful novel chock-full of action and intrigue, racing toward its surprising and breathtaking climax.

The author has chosen seventeen of the most important or representative British spy novelists to write about. He presents some basic literary analysis and criticism, trying both to place them in historical perspective and to describe and analyze the content and form of their fiction.

The Silent Game traces the history of spy writers and their fiction from creator William Le Queux, of the Edwardian age, to John le Carré, of the Cold War era. David Stafford reveals the connections between fact and fiction as seen in the lives of writers with experience in intelligence, including John Buchan, Compton Mackenzie, Somerset Maugham, Ian Fleming, and Graham Greene. Le Queux used his spy fiction as xenophobic propaganda before and after World War I, and le Carré's novels have provided reflections on the Cold War and the decline of Britain's influence. Anxieties about the decline of the American “empire” have helped stimulate a more vigorous American literature of espionage, providing an index of contemporary American concerns about power relations. As Stafford suggests, the genre of espionage fiction rarely intends to document the real world of intelligence. Rather, it provides a popular vehicle for exploring themes of imperial decline, international crisis, and impending war.

After years on the run, an assassin seeks vengeance against the Nazis It’s been four years since Raymond Ingelram failed to kill Hitler. All it took was a slight change in wind to force his bullet wide and put the entire German secret service on his tail. Ingelram ran to England, where he went to ground in the wilds of Dorset and finally escaped his pursuers. Safe at last, he does the only thing that makes sense: He decides to go back to Germany. War is raging across Europe, and Hitler deserves death more than ever. Infiltrating the Reich with a forged passport, Ingelram is thrown into a provincial prison—only to be freed by a stray RAF bomb. Wearing a stolen Nazi uniform, he again goes to ground . . . and forms a plan to tear Nazi Germany apart from the inside out.

The Historical Dictionary of British Spy Fiction is a detailed overview of the rich history and achievements of the British espionage story in literature, cinema and television. It provides detailed yet accessible information on numerous individual authors, novels, films, filmmakers, television dramas and significant themes within the broader field of the British spy story. It contains a wealth of facts, insights and perspectives, and represents the best single source for the study and appreciation of British spy fiction. British spy fiction is widely regarded as the most significant and accomplished in the world and this book is the first attempt to bring together an informed survey of the achievements in the British spy story in literature, cinema and television. The Historical Dictionary of British Spy Fiction contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 200 cross-referenced entries on individual authors, stories, films, filmmakers, television shows and the various sub-genres of the British spy story. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about British spy fiction.

For control of a South American oil field, two men go to war On the spine of the Andes Mountains, three monuments have been built to honor the god known as oil. These towering derricks, known to the Company as the three sentinels, will change a few lives for the better—and destroy one thousand more. The completion of the sentinels means closing the outdated oil field known as Cabo Desierto, which hundreds of native families call home. Those who live there are to be relocated. Some are happy to move, but most are not. For the sake of their community, these radicals will fight—and they will die. When the protests against relocation claim the life of his wife, Rafael Garay vows revenge against the Company. With his son at his side, he takes arms against the men who control the sentinels, pitting himself against a corporate troubleshooter who has never met a union he couldn’t break.

Stories, both comic and tragic, of the extremes to which men will go to get what they want At the height of World War II, a Spaniard fighting for Britain shoots a sergeant dead and resolves to face execution like a good soldier. On his first visit to Israel since 1919, a veteran of World War I remembers a long-ago encounter with Jewish refugees. When a gang of revolutionaries press a pistol to a general’s neck, he dies in a fit of laughter. Working in the jungles of Argentina, a mechanic is surprised to discover himself falling in love. These are the tales that Geoffrey Household likes to tell. Some are funny; some are sad. Together, they span the oceans of the world. Including the novellas “The Salvation of Pisco Gabar” and “The Case of Valentin Lecormier,” this remarkable collection of short fiction shows that whether writing about war or love, Geoffrey Household understood what it meant to be human.