The best books about ordinary people becoming involved in life threatening matters of state, and their escape

The main character becomes accidentally involved in international intrigue when he breaks into a house formerly owned by his father, which has become a government establishment. He becomes the target of both the British security services and the Russians, who believe he knows more than he does about the secret work carried on at the establishment. The book deals with his adventures and means of evading both Moscow and MI5.

I like and recommend this book, and others by this author, because of the theme of an ordinary individual being drawn into intention intrigue and finding his life in danger, together with what he does to evade capture both by the enemy and the police. Household also wrote his books with a cynical humour at times which I find absorbing.

The main character, an armaments engineer, becomes a target of the (then) Nazi government in Germany to prevent his expertise from being used to cement an Anglo-Turkish alliance in 1939. Their aim is to assassinate him. The story details the situation of an ordinary citizen caught up in international intrigue and how he manages to cope with it.

My liking and recommendation of this book is similar to that of my first choice, an innocent and ordinary individual who finds himself on the run to avoid capture and possible death by enemy agents, the means he utilises to make himself inconspicuous and evade them, and his fury at the end which enables him to turn the tables despite being out of his depth. 

Because of leakages of top secret information the top echelons of MI 5 in London realise there must be a mole in their organisation. They appoint George Smiley to investigate and dig out the mole. This is like a detective novel in a sense, the mole is unknown and is slowly brought to light by extensive probing.

I recommend this for the slow but sure progress made by the investigator as he slowly uncovers facts and clues to ascertain the identity of the mole who is betraying government secrets to Moscow. I like the aspect of starting from scratch and gradually working towards the end result.

Another story where a man is pitchforked into an international situation by accident, he is burgling a billionaire’s house when he observes, through a one-way mirror, the billionaire’s wife having sex with a man who Luther Whitney, the observer, recognises as the President of the United States. The seduction ends badly in a quarrel which results in the death of the woman at the hands of the Secret Service. Will the President be brought to justice, even though the witness is later found and killed?

I like the plot, where a murder is committed which involves a cover up perpetrated by top government circles, which is uncovered because a not so innocent man, a burglar, is an unexpected witness. The book is also complicated by relationships between the witness, prosecutors and defence lawyers, but a book not easy to put down.

This book discusses the Battle of Jutland that took place in 1916, a controversial affair in that Britain expected their usual victory over a continental Fleet. However, the Royal Navy experienced a severe mauling in the process. The Germans, who also suffered severe losses, were first to reach the port and proclaimed victory, although afterwards they never ventured to sea again while the Royal Navy were out patrolling the seas again, and looking for action within a week.  The book, latest of many on this subject, analyses the battle, a case of who didn’t gain the expected victory, why not and who could have done so? 

I recommend this book, but appreciate it would have a limited appeal to those like myself, being a naval buff and having also served in the Royal Navy. The controversy over the conduct and inconclusiveness of this battle will no doubt continue for years, between those who support Jellicoe, the Fleet commander, and his successor Beatty, who commanded a squadron during the battle.