My favorite books about Cold War spies and secret agents

Why am I passionate about this?

When the war ended, we all felt the horrors of war were finally over. My cousins were back from Europe, and all seemed at peace once again. We were wrong. A few years later I was a young journalist editing stories about Soviet-held Berlin and how Russia stopped the West from sending food and even coal to residents in West Berlin. That was just the beginning.


I wrote...

Femme Fatale

By Jim Carr,

Book cover of Femme Fatale

What is my book about?

Tania was known as one of the most beautiful woman in the world and was used by the Soviets to hunt down Western spies. When she is brought to East Berlin to track down Karl Aberbach, who was sent there to create havoc and problems; for the East German Government, he reacts by bringing in a handsome CBC radio personality to distract her.

They fall for each other and escape to the West only to find themselves hunted down by her husband and Soviet killers.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

Jim Carr Why did I love this book?

“But it’s the world, it’s gone mad.” It sums up a spy world in Alec Leamas finds himself turfed from his position by British Intelligence for a string of failures in Soviet-held East Berlin.

Ultimately, he joins East Berlin’s Intelligence only to make one desperate to escape from them. It was a world of agents and double agents with no end in sight.

I like the book for its fast pace and incredible character sketches that made them come alive in their triumphs and failures and memorable long after you finish the book.

By John le Carré,

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked The Spy Who Came in From the Cold as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the New York Times bestselling author of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Our Kind of Traitor; and The Night Manager, now a television series starring Tom Hiddleston.

The 50th-anniversary edition of the bestselling novel that launched John le Carre's career worldwide

In the shadow of the newly erected Berlin Wall, Alec Leamas watches as his last agent is shot dead by East German sentries. For Leamas, the head of Berlin Station, the Cold War is over. As he faces the prospect of retirement or worse-a desk job-Control offers him a unique opportunity for revenge. Assuming the guise of an embittered…


Book cover of The Odessa File

Jim Carr Why did I love this book?

ODESSA was a port-war organization established to re-establish the power of SS mass murderers throughout the world and carry out Hitler’s Final Solution 20 years after his death.

In researching for ODESSA Files, Forsyth talked to several former SS members and used their memories to enhance the atmosphere and feeling of reality throughout the book.

It’s a look at what Hitler and the SS had in mind for the world. Almost every chapter bristles with suspense and excitement when a journalist starts to expose them. It’s cleverly plotted and has you on edge from start to finish.

By Frederick Forsyth,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Odessa File as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The  suicide of an elderly German Jew explodes into  revelation after revelation: of a Mafia-like  organization called Odessa ...of a real-life fugitive known as the  "Butcher of Riga"..of a young German journalist  tumed obsessed avenger.......and, ultimately, of brilliant, ruthless plot  to reestablish the worldwide power of SS mass  murderers and to carry out Hitler's chilling  "Final Solution."


Book cover of Eye of the Needle

Jim Carr Why did I love this book?

Leave it to Follett to keep you in suspense from one chapter after another when a German agent operating in England discovers that the barracks and equipment on the coast are fakes and needs to get the information to German Intelligence.

The book’s title comes from the agent’s code name, The Needle, who uses a long needle to kill anyone. The book later became a movie in 1981. Ironically, only Hitler had the right guess where the invasion would take place. He was ignored by his generals.

I admire Follett’s great writing style. It’s fast-paced, with almost every chapter filled with suspense that keeps you guessing what’s happening next. A hard book to put down.

By Ken Follett,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Eye of the Needle as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The worldwide phenomenon from the bestselling author of The Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, A Column of Fire, and The Evening and the Morning

His code name was "The Needle." He was a German aristocrat of extraordinary intelligence-a master spy with a legacy of violence in his blood, and the object of the most desperate manhunt in history. . . .

But his fate lay in the hands of a young and vulnerable English woman, whose loyalty, if swayed, would assure his freedom-and win the war for the Nazis. . . .


Book cover of Cold Harbour

Jim Carr Why did I love this book?

During the war, Britain and Germany assumed the identity of each other.

The Brits, for example, used at least two German Uboats that were operated by the British Navy. Cold Harbour starts just before the invasion. In it, a U.S. agent and assassin is sent to France, where he infiltrates a German High Command briefing about the Germany’s defence of its Atlantic Wall. His challenge now is to get this vital information to the Allies.

Jack Higgins is a master of suspense, every chapter leaves you hanging from start to finish. It’s a side of the war most of us know little about. Kit’s certainly one of my favourite books.

By Jack Higgins,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Cold Harbour as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Along with all his other troubles, OSS agent Craig Osborne is sure he will suffer a watery death in the English Channel and is thankful to be picked up by a German torpedo boat


Book cover of The Double-Cross System: The Classic Account of World War Two Spy-Masters

Jim Carr Why did I love this book?

It s a clever scheme that was essentially controlled German espionage in Britain.

In this system, they fed German agents with false information that gave an edge to Allied military success. Perhaps most important of all, it was used to lead the Germans in believing the invasion would land at Pas de Calais. The Germans never learned about it until after the war.

Britain’s super spies were given great names to protect their identity, names like Tricycle, Treasure, and Lipstick. The book is a wonderful, factual account of a hidden world of the war no one knew about. It’s a real eye-opener.

By J.C. Masterman,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Double-Cross System as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

J.C. Masterman was chairman of the Double-Cross Committee at the height of World War Two. This is his account of the double agents, deception and counter-espionage which were key to the victory of D-Day.

Written as an official report for MI5 in 1945, originally published with the permission of the British Government over twenty years later, The Double-Cross System details the Allied handling of enemy agents and the British infiltration of Nazi spy-rings.

Telling the stories of the agents codenamed Zigzag, Tricycle, Garbo and Snow, Masterman also tells the story of a triumphant operation in the Second World War's intelligence…


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A House on Liberty Street

By Neil Turner,

Book cover of A House on Liberty Street

Neil Turner Author Of A House on Liberty Street

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Reader Traveler Inquisitive Family guy Writer

Neil's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Meet Tony Valenti. His high-flying corporate law career just cratered. His society marriage blew up in a bitter divorce. He's returned to the Chicago suburbs to lick his wounds and regroup in the haven of the Valenti family home. But time to heal isn't in the cards.

Tony's elderly father inexplicably shoots a sheriff's deputy on their front porch. Nobody knows why, and Papa isn't talking. Then their house becomes an unlikely target for condemnation and expropriation by corrupt local officials and their cronies.

With money and hope dwindling, Tony steps up to defend his father and take to city hall, and quickly finds himself in peril when he unearths sinister connections between the cases. The audacity of the plot against them fuels a gritty determination to get to the bottom of what really happened—regardless of the risks and ultimate cost to himself. To win, Tony must earn his father's trust and outwit his wily opponents.

A House on Liberty Street

By Neil Turner,

What is this book about?

A father. A son. A murder.

Meet Tony Valenti. His high-flying corporate law career just cratered. His society marriage blew up in a bitter divorce. He’s returned to the Chicago suburbs to lick his wounds and regroup in the haven of the Valenti family home. But time to heal isn’t in the cards.

Tony’s elderly father inexplicably shoots a sheriff’s deputy on their front porch. Nobody knows why, and Papa isn’t talking. Then their house becomes an unlikely target for condemnation and expropriation by corrupt local officials and their cronies.

With money and hope dwindling, Tony steps up to defend…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in investigative journalism, the Cold War, and presidential biography?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about investigative journalism, the Cold War, and presidential biography.

Investigative Journalism Explore 26 books about investigative journalism
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