Berlin Game
Book description
'Masterly ... dazzlingly intelligent and subtle' Sunday Times
'Deighton's best novel to date - sharp, witty and sour, like Raymond Chandler adapted to British gloom and the multiple betrayals of the spy' Observer
Embattled agent Bernard Samson is used to being passed over for promotion as his younger, more ambitious…
Why read it?
3 authors picked Berlin Game as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I love this book because it captures the essence of cold war espionage when the wall was still up in Berlin. It’s a tale of a time in recent history that no longer exists. It’s written with humour, the characters are well represented, and it’s believable in an English, often eccentric way.
From Mark's list on the authentic world of espionage.
This is the first book in a nine-book series, and once again, these are books I read and read again and always find something new to enjoy.
Set towards the end of the Cold War, the books make me laugh as well as think. In planning the series, Deighton said he wanted to write about Samson’s marriage and how the relationship is impacted by the work. I found this a compelling idea and it’s something I’ve done in my new book. I’m not sure that Len Deighton was a spy himself, but he certainly knew a few.
From Merle's list on spy books that spies read and sometimes wrote themselves.
For some readers, The Ipcress Files is Len Deighton’s best novel.
I’m in the camp that favors Berlin Game, the first entry in Deighton’s wonderful Cold War trilogy, Game, Set, and Match.
The narrator, Bernard Samson, is a veteran field agent for British intelligence, during the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, the divided city of Berlin was ground zero for the Cold War, a city where many feared a Third World War might erupt.
Samson tells his story in an acerbic, world-weary voice that’s irresistible to read.
While his exploits throughout Berlin Game are thrilling enough, it’s not until…
From Lee's list on the Cold War told in the first person.
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