The Private Sector

by Joseph Hone

This book is about the Suez crisis, and it’s also about the Israel-Egypt stuff that went on 1967. It alternates between the two. At the centre of it is a classic mole hunt, which was very common in all of those British spy thrillers of the day, with a kind of Philby-esque character in it. It’s set mainly in Egypt, and it’s to do with double agents and also triple agents. It’s just brilliant characterisation but also an incredibly bleak picture. The depiction of Egypt is fantastically atmospheric; it’s a brilliant book.