Books by Graham Greene
Graham Greene was one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. During World War 2 he worked for MI6 and his experiences are reflected in his works.
“Graham Greene briefly worked in MI6 during World War II in West Africa, if I remember rightly. His most famous spy book is Our Man in Havana, which is a great comedy and quite light—not as bleak as the books I’ve suggested. But The Human Factor is again—and perhaps this is a bit of a theme—quite a tragic book. It’s about a man who works for a secret service and is definitely not James Bond. Quite the contrary. He’s a quiet bureaucrat who commutes to work and is a family man.” Read more...
“This one character, Harry Lime…only has a few lines, a few paragraphs of dialogue…but captures people’s imaginations…There’s one line in it about how Harry Lime says that he’s working for the Russians. I’m using that as my justification for calling it an espionage novel: I’m really just trying to get people to read The Third Man. I think people should read it…The book is very short, but quite profound—more so than you realize at first glance.” Read more...
Five Classic European Spy Novels
Patrick Worrall, Thriller and Crime Writer
“The novel’s set in the Second World War during the Blitz. The protagonists are Morris Bendix, who is a very sarcastic, satiric, almost nasty kind of writer, and Sarah Miles, whom he falls in love with and who is married to a civil servant…you watch the two main characters have what St Paul would call a conversion experience. They’re both very sarcastic, but it’s pretty clear that he, Bendix, who tells the story, has had a conversion experience.” Read more...
Evan Zimroth, Literary Scholar
“The Heart of the Matter, which is set in Sierra Leone – a country I had visited several times before I read the book – was revelatory in that I saw the place where I lived in a novel. Again, it’s one of those moments as a reader and a young writer that’s quite extraordinary. I would read Greene’s descriptions of sunset in the tropics or bars in slightly shambolic African towns, and then go out and see them with my own eyes. It’s quite extraordinary to have that experience of being able to authenticate the novelist’s imagination and vision. That’s why the book had a huge impact on me. The story itself is about this policeman Scobie…It’s a fantastically atmospheric and powerful read, and it really does hold up over the decades as one of his great novels.” Read more...
William Boyd on Writers Who Inspired Him
William Boyd, Novelist
“This is the book that made me want to be a crime writer. I grew up in Brighton in the 1950s and 60s and it was a thoroughly unpleasant place then — seedy and violent. It has changed dramatically in the last 25 years. The book has two really key things about it that were such a big influence on me. The first is that it has one of the most grabbing opening sentences ever written: “Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him.”” Read more...
Peter James, Thriller and Crime Writer
“What I like about this book is how Greene captures so beautifully the Cold-War contradictions of U.S. policy in the region. Even though the United States plays no role directly, Greene captures the way in which U.S. policy is often so blind to the realities on the ground that it produces disastrous, unintended consequences. The story is, of course, about a British citizen living in Havana during the 1950s, recruited as a spy by the British Secret Service. He has no idea what do to – so he just pretends and makes up information, which he then sends back to London. However, his actions lead others, presumably the Russians, to think he really is a spy. They start killing people with whom he’s been in touch. Only then does he realise the mess he has got himself into.” Read more...
The best books on U.S. Relations with Latin America
William LeoGrande, Political Scientist
“The Quiet American is much more about America than it is about Indo-China. The titular character is an idealistic young man in Indo-China, probably working for the CIA, whose well-meaning actions cause havoc. That is a sort of microcosm for what has actually happened in various parts of the world because of American intervention.” Read more...
The best books on East and West
Ian Buruma, Journalist
“I have chosen this book because it is set in what is probably the third most traumatic period of Haiti’s history. This novel is set in the early 1960s in the early days of the reign of Papa Doc. Although I wasn’t a witness to this regime, many consider this book captures extremely well the atmosphere in Haiti in those days when the Tonton Macoutes tightly controlled the country and brutally extinguished any attempt to change the political status quo.” Read more...
Christian Wisskirchen, Nonprofit Leaders & Activist
Interviews where books by Graham Greene were recommended
The best books on Haiti, recommended by Christian Wisskirchen
As a country that was created after the first and only successful slave revolt in history, Haiti looms large in the popular imagination. Here, Christian Wisskirchen, founding member and former chair of The Haiti Support Group, recommends five books that reveal much about Haiti and what makes it special, and its fascinating and often traumatic history since independence in 1804.
The best books on East and West, recommended by Ian Buruma
The writer and historian Ian Buruma selects five Western perspectives of the East, including a novel of colonial India, a travelogue of disappearing Japan, and the collection of essays that lifted the veil on Mao’s China.
The best books on Americans Abroad, recommended by Charles Glass
The much-travelled writer and broadcaster Charles Glass tells us about misunderstandings and misadventures of Americans in foreign lands.
The best books on Southeast Asian Travel Literature, recommended by Cat Barton
The Bureau Chief for the Agence France Presse in Dhaka discusses South East Asian travel literature. Particularly interesting on Cambodia. Further recommended reading from Graham Greene and James Fenton
The best books on U.S. Relations with Latin America, recommended by William LeoGrande
From the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 to the present day, the US has always been heavily involved in Latin America and viewed itself as the dominant power in the region. William LeoGrande, a Latin America specialist and professor of government at the American University, takes us through books on the history of the relationship, including a book that tells the story of Cuba and the US through the tale of one family, the Bacardi dynasty.
The Best Crime Fiction, recommended by Peter James
The best crime novels grip you right from the first sentence and don’t let go, says bestselling crime author, Peter James. He picks his own favourite crime novels.
William Boyd on Writers Who Inspired Him
The novelist William Boyd tells us about the authors, from Chekhov to Heller, who most influenced his own development as a writer – and reveals the secret to a well-crafted sex scene
Great Actors Read Great Novels
If you enjoy listening to books as audiobooks, it’s a great time to be alive. From Rosamund Pike narrating Pride and Prejudice, Jeremy Irons reading Lolita to Meryl Streep telling the story of Heartburn, many prominent actors have signed up for performing their favourite books in unabridged versions.
The best books on Adultery, recommended by Evan Zimroth
The poet, novelist and author of memoirs explores parallels between faith in the divine and commitment to a worldly erotic passion, and books that show you can have purity within licentiousness
Five Classic European Spy Novels, recommended by Patrick Worrall
From a noir novel by Eric Ambler set in 1930s Europe to some of the great spy thrillers of the post-World War II era, British novelist Patrick Worrall, author of The Exile, talks us through five of his favourite espionage novels.
Spy Novels Based on Real Events, recommended by Charles Beaumont
James Bond novels may be a lot of fun to read, but as a depiction of life as a spy, they are pure fantasy. Novelist and ex-spy Charles Beaumont recommends five brilliant novels based on true events—and the manipulation and dishonesty that lie at the heart of espionage work.
