10 books like Perjury

By Allen Weinstein,

Here are 10 books that authors have personally recommended if you like Perjury. Shepherd is a community of 8,000+ authors sharing their favorite books with the world.

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A Spy Among Friends

By Ben Macintyre,

Book cover of A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal

Jonathan Schneer Author Of The Lockhart Plot: Love, Betrayal, Assassination and Counter-Revolution in Lenin's Russia

From the list on a historian's view about spies.

Who am I?

I am a modern British historian who loves to read thrillers and non-fiction histories of spies. I’ve done it all my adult life. Moreover, I’ve always been fascinated by the Russian Revolution: its early idealism, the curdling of idealism. When the daughter of Moura von Benckendorff, (R.H. Bruce Lockhart’s great love) told me about her mother and Lockhart, I realized I had an opportunity to combine my vocation and my avocation. The result is my book, The Lockhart Plot.

Jonathan's book list on a historian's view about spies

Discover why each book is one of Jonathan's favorite books.

Why did Jonathan love this book?

This is the best book written about the brilliant, charming, ruthless Kim Philby, the most successful spy Russia ever had in Britain. It is sympathetic but clear-eyed. It is exhaustively researched, but reads like a novel. You will be swept away, but also you may be certain it is true. Philby became a Communist spy for idealistic reasons. Eventually, however, he betrayed not only his country but even his friends. When, at last, they figured him out, he escaped to Russia and lived there as a hero to an old age. He had everything except a heart. 

A Spy Among Friends

By Ben Macintyre,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked A Spy Among Friends as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Kim Philby was the most notorious British defector and Soviet mole in history. Agent, double agent, traitor and enigma, he betrayed every secret of Allied operations to the Russians in the early years of the Cold War.

Philby's two closest friends in the intelligence world, Nicholas Elliott of MI6 and James Jesus Angleton, the CIA intelligence chief, thought they knew Philby better than anyone, and then discovered they had not known him at all. This is a story of intimate duplicity; of loyalty, trust and treachery, class and conscience; of an ideological battle waged by men with cut-glass accents and…


Darkness at Noon

By Arthur Koestler,

Book cover of Darkness at Noon

Rhoda Howard-Hassmann Author Of In Defense of Universal Human Rights

From the list on readable stories on human rights.

Who am I?

I am a scholar of international human rights and comparative genocide studies. My father was a refugee from the Holocaust. So I was always interested in genocide, but I did not want to be another Holocaust scholar. Instead, I introduced one of the first university courses in Canada on comparative genocide studies. From a very young age, I was also very interested in social justice: I was seven when Emmett Till was murdered in the US. So when I became a professor, I decided to specialize in international human rights. I read a lot of “world literature” fiction that helps me to empathize with people in places I’ve never been.

Rhoda's book list on readable stories on human rights

Discover why each book is one of Rhoda's favorite books.

Why did Rhoda love this book?

I studied under the distinguished sociologist, Immanuel Wallerstein. One day in class he said, if you read only one book, it should be this one. So I read it. 

Koestler was a Hungarian Jew who joined the German Communist Party. He became disillusioned with communism, in part because of the Stalin trials of the 1930s, in which many of Stalin’s own former allies were tortured and executed. 

The protagonist of the novel is Rubashov, a dedicated Communist who is accused of treason, tortured, and eventually executed despite confessing to his supposed crimes. The novel is a great way to learn not only about the Stalinist Soviet Union, but about any society that brain-washes its victims. 

Darkness at Noon

By Arthur Koestler,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Darkness at Noon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The newly discovered lost text of Arthur Koestler’s modern masterpiece, Darkness at Noon—the haunting portrait of a revolutionary, imprisoned and tortured under totalitarian rule—is now restored and in a completely new translation.

Editor Michael Scammell and translator Philip Boehm bring us a brilliant novel, a remarkable discovery, and a new translation of an international classic.

In print continually since 1940, Darkness at Noon has been translated into over 30 languages and is both a stirring novel and a classic anti-fascist text. What makes its popularity and tenacity even more remarkable is that all existing versions of Darkness at Noon are…


Spymaster

By Oleg Kalugin,

Book cover of Spymaster: My Thirty-Two Years in Intelligence and Espionage Against the West

Mark Hollingsworth Author Of Agents of Influence: How the KGB Subverted Western Democracies

From the list on the KGB, Russia and espionage.

Who am I?

I have been writing about Russia for the past 20 years for all the UK national newspapers, The Spectator and contributed to several TV documentaries. I am fascinated by Russia which is a unique country and has been a major influence on the world for the past 100 years. Based on new documents, my book Londongrad - From Russia with Cash revealed how Russian Oligarchs made their wealth, moved it out of Russia, hid their fortunes and then parked and spent it in London. My new book - Agents of Influence - provides an insight into how the KGB influenced the West based on new archives.

Mark's book list on the KGB, Russia and espionage

Discover why each book is one of Mark's favorite books.

Why did Mark love this book?

It is rare for a KGB spy to reveal so many secrets about the Soviet Union and Russian intelligence operations in the West and so this book is a revelation. 

Kalugin was a KGB officer based in the USA in the 1970s and he describes all their dirty tricks - fake letters, disinformation, honey trapping, and even attempts to bug the US Congress.

Spymaster

By Oleg Kalugin,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Oleg Kalugin oversaw the work of American spies, matched wits with the CIA, and became one of the youngest generals in KGB history. Even so, he grew increasingly disillusioned with the Soviet system. In 1990, he went public, exposing the intelligence agency's shadowy methods. Revised and updated in the light of the KGB's enduring presence in Russian politics, Spymaster is Kalugin's impressively illuminating memoir of the final years of the Soviet Union.


The Great Terror

By Robert Conquest,

Book cover of The Great Terror: Stalin's Purge of the Thirties

Michael Isikoff Author Of Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump

From the list on Russian espionage.

Who am I?

As a child of the Cold War, I was fascinated from an early age by Russia—and the history of U.S.-Soviet relations. I still remember devouring everything I could about many of the events of the 1960’s—the Cuban Missile Crisis, the coup that replaced Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. These and much else from this period inspired me to become a journalist. And while I have had a wide-ranging and occasionally globe-trotting career, returning to the subject of U.S.-Russia relations in Russian Roulette  and the feeling that we made a genuine contribution to contemporary history—was unusually satisfying.

Michael's book list on Russian espionage

Discover why each book is one of Michael's favorite books.

Why did Michael love this book?

No book exposed the horrors of Josef Stalin’s purges more graphically and with greater power than Robert Conquest’s epic, The Great Terror. The book chronicled how a paranoid Stalin, convinced his power was threatened by his rival Leon Trotsky and his allies, unleashed a wave of terror by his country’s NKVD—a forerunner of the KGB--  that decimated the Soviet leadership and its military with millions of Russians executed or marched to Siberian prison camps. While Stalin’s henchmen staged mock “trials” in Moscow, marked by phony confessions, extracted by torture, liberal apologists in the West sought to justify Stalin’s lunatic crackdown. I read this book in college and it has stayed with me for years-- providing an eye-opening lesson in the willingness of those of all political stripes to turn a blind eye to the evils of totalitarianism.

The Great Terror

By Robert Conquest,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Great Terror as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Robert Conquest's The Great Terror is the book that revealed the horrors of Stalin's regime to the West. This definitive fiftieth anniversary edition features a new foreword by Anne Applebaum.

One of the most important books ever written about the Soviet Union, The Great Terror revealed to the West for the first time the true extent and nature Stalin's purges in the 1930s, in which around a million people were tortured and executed or sent to labour camps on political grounds. Its publication caused a widespread reassessment of Communism itself.

This definitive fiftieth anniversary edition gathers together the wealth of…


Book cover of The Plot to Seize the White House: The Shocking True Story of the Conspiracy to Overthrow F.D.R.

Anita Bartholomew Author Of Siege: An American Tragedy

From the list on plots to overthrow the US government.

Who am I?

I'm a long-time contributor to Reader's Digest (and former contributing editor), specializing in narrative nonfiction who has covered social and geopolitical issues for the magazine. I'm also a political junkie who loves to dig into little-known aspects of history and current events. 

Anita's book list on plots to overthrow the US government

Discover why each book is one of Anita's favorite books.

Why did Anita love this book?

Throughout the early 20th century, General Smedley Butler was the go-to commander for overthrowing other countries' governments on behalf of US interests. So, when American fascists conspired to oust then-recently elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt, they recruited Butler to lead their coup attempt. The fascists’ error: they failed to take Butler’s remorse seriously when, in a 1931 speech, he lamented his career as a "…high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street, and the bankers." The Plot to Seize The White House details how Butler brought the conspiracy down.

I was reminded as I read that there always were—and will be—powerful people eager to topple the barriers democracy puts in their way. But it’s also a reminder that, as in the 2020 election, principled people, in the right positions, make all the difference. 

The Plot to Seize the White House

By Jules Archer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Plot to Seize the White House as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Fascinating and alarmingly true."-Time Magazine. The true story of a plot to overthrow Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the nearly forgotten Marine who saved American Democracy.

Many simply don't know that in 1933, a group of wealthy industrialists-working closely with groups like the K.K.K. and the American Liberty League-planned to overthrow the U.S. government and run F.D.R. out of office in a fascist coup.

Americans may be shocked to learn of the plan to turn unhappy war veterans into American "brown shirts," depose F.D.R., and stop the New Deal. They asked Medal of Honor recipient and Marine Major General Smedley Darlington…


The Lacuna

By Barbara Kingsolver,

Book cover of The Lacuna

Saskia Sarginson Author Of How It Ends

From the list on love and paranoia in Cold War Britain and America.

Who am I?

The Cold War has never been a passion for me, but rather a kind of horror. It was ongoing all through my childhood, and I had nightmares about nuclear attacks and Soviet spies. We lived in the middle of a Suffolk pine forest during the 60s and 70s. There was an American air base on the edge of the forest, surrounded by a tall wire fence. It seemed a spooky place with its concrete bunkers and keep-out signs. Later, as an author on the lookout for good stories, I remembered my childhood terrors and the atmosphere of menace surrounding the base. It gave me an idea for a story set in a similar airbase. 

Saskia's book list on love and paranoia in Cold War Britain and America

Discover why each book is one of Saskia's favorite books.

Why did Saskia love this book?

Kingsolver is such a brilliant writer—she deals with weighty themes, but always with an emotional heart. This doorstop of a novel features real historical characters and events, but with a fictional American protagonist: Harrison Shepherd. Shepherd is raised in Mexico by his Mexican mother, works for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, and meets Trotsky. When he returns to post-WW2 America, he finds a paranoid societythe McCarthy communist witch-hunts are underway, and Harrison, a novelist, is caught up in them. The story becomes enveloped in a sense of suffocation, as Harrison’s neighbours turn against him, and FBI agents hound him. The world around him is shaped by prejudice and suspicion. The novel is largely told through diaries, notebooks, and an editor’s notes. 

The Lacuna

By Barbara Kingsolver,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Lacuna as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

**DEMON COPPERHEAD: THE NEW BARBARA KINGSOLVER NOVEL IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW**

WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2010

THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLER

'Lush.' Sunday Times
'Superb.' Daily Mail
'Elegantly written.' Sunday Telegraph

From Pulitzer Prize nominee and award winning author of Homeland, The Poisonwood Bible and Flight Behaviour, The Lacuna is the heartbreaking story of a man torn between the warm heart of Mexico and the cold embrace of 1950s America in the shadow of Senator McCarthy.

Born in America and raised in Mexico, Harrison Shepherd is a liability to his social-climbing flapper mother, Salome. When he starts…


Street Witch

By S. L. Prater,

Book cover of Street Witch: Book One

Colleen Cowley Author Of Subversive

From the list on fantasy with magic, romance, and a dash of subversion.

Who am I?

I write romantic fantasy set in twisted versions of the United States because half of me wishes magic were real. (The wiser half thinks that would be a disaster.) Typical contents of my books: banter, antagonist love interests, dramatically billowing coats, twisty plots, and oppressive systems in need of taking down... by bantering antagonists in magnificent coats. I consume books like they’re as necessary as food—and aren’t they, really? 

Colleen's book list on fantasy with magic, romance, and a dash of subversion

Discover why each book is one of Colleen's favorite books.

Why did Colleen love this book?

What if a society blessed one form of magic use while all but criminalizing the other? Marnie Becker was born a witch in this world, which puts her forever at the margins. She tries to stay (mostly) out of trouble—until it finds her in a big way.

I absolutely love that magic here has a scent, from a hint of maple syrup to a reek of burnt meat. And that her love interest, Bran, declares, “You are never more beautiful to me than when you fix my math.” And that Marnie starts to believe she could help change her country for the better.

Street Witch

By S. L. Prater,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Street Witch as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Recipe for Disaster: Malicious Magic, Shifting Political Powers, and a Forbidden Love

Marnie is a gifted witch—but magic has a mind of its own. Left unrestrained, it will always misbehave. When a demonic curse threatens Lord Bran, a man she’s loved since childhood, Marnie uses her abilities to save him.

After years of suppressing their feelings—knowing the relationship is prohibited by the Church of the Cloth—the two succumb to their passion. Her growing power triggers a dangerous political war—and their relationship is doomed before it begins.

Now the couple must decide whether to keep their love a secret or…


Song of Blood & Stone

By L. Penelope,

Book cover of Song of Blood & Stone

Colleen Cowley Author Of Subversive

From the list on fantasy with magic, romance, and a dash of subversion.

Who am I?

I write romantic fantasy set in twisted versions of the United States because half of me wishes magic were real. (The wiser half thinks that would be a disaster.) Typical contents of my books: banter, antagonist love interests, dramatically billowing coats, twisty plots, and oppressive systems in need of taking down... by bantering antagonists in magnificent coats. I consume books like they’re as necessary as food—and aren’t they, really? 

Colleen's book list on fantasy with magic, romance, and a dash of subversion

Discover why each book is one of Colleen's favorite books.

Why did Colleen love this book?

This bookand the entire Earthsinger Chroniclesis a must-read. It’s the story of Jasminda the outcast and Jack the spy, but it’s also a cinematic, immersive tale about two neighboring lands—one ruled by a terrifying autocrat and the other filled with fear and hate for the refugees who escaped him. From folktale excerpts at the start of each chapter to powerfully drawn secondary characters, L. Penelope’s world never gives you a chance to recollect that it doesn’t really exist.

You also get deeply romantic moments like this: “I don’t know what to do with you," she whispered, stroking his face, her lips a breath from his own. "I cannot keep you, but I cannot turn you away." Be still my heart.

Song of Blood & Stone

By L. Penelope,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Song of Blood & Stone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Orphaned and alone, Jasminda lives in a land where cold whispers of invasion and war linger on the wind. Jasminda herself is an outcast in her homeland of Elsira, where her gift of Earthsong is feared. When ruthless soldiers seek refuge in her isolated cabin, they bring with them a captive - an injured spy who threatens to steal her heart.

Jack's mission behind enemy lines to prove that the Mantle between Elsira and Lagamiri is about to fall nearly cost him his life, but he is saved by the healing Song of a mysterious young woman. Now he must…


Book cover of Sorcerer to the Crown

Donna Maree Hanson Author Of Argenterra

From the list on world building and imaginary worlds.

Who am I?

I love reading and writing and I have always loved science fiction and myths and legends. I read my first fantasy when I was around 23, Stephen Donaldson’s Lord Foul’s Bane. I know some people hate that series, but to me, the world he created was so real, so full of interesting things. At that time, I had not read Lord of the Rings so I didn’t realise how closely the world building was to Tolkien. I need to bond with my characters and feel their journey, cry at the end if it is sad, and think about them well after I have finished the story.

Donna's book list on world building and imaginary worlds

Discover why each book is one of Donna's favorite books.

Why did Donna love this book?

A great voice, an interesting take on fantasy, a non-white hero and heroine, rich mix of traditional fable and myth, and lots of Austeneque language. This story also takes on colonialism. I loved this book so much. It was a delight from start to finish and I’ve gone on to read other books by this author and I went to a coffee talk at the World SF Convention in Dublin. I was so thrilled to meet her.

Sorcerer to the Crown

By Zen Cho,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Sorcerer to the Crown as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of NPR's 50 Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade

Magic and mayhem clash with the British elite in this whimsical and sparkling debut.

The Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers maintains the magic within His Majesty’s lands. But lately, the once proper institute has fallen into disgrace, naming an altogether unsuitable gentleman as their Sorcerer Royal and allowing England’s  stores of magic to bleed dry. At least they haven’t stooped so low as to allow women to practice what is obviously a man’s profession…
 
At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers, ventures…


The Lord of Stariel

By A.J. Lancaster,

Book cover of The Lord of Stariel

Colleen Cowley Author Of Subversive

From the list on fantasy with magic, romance, and a dash of subversion.

Who am I?

I write romantic fantasy set in twisted versions of the United States because half of me wishes magic were real. (The wiser half thinks that would be a disaster.) Typical contents of my books: banter, antagonist love interests, dramatically billowing coats, twisty plots, and oppressive systems in need of taking down... by bantering antagonists in magnificent coats. I consume books like they’re as necessary as food—and aren’t they, really? 

Colleen's book list on fantasy with magic, romance, and a dash of subversion

Discover why each book is one of Colleen's favorite books.

Why did Colleen love this book?

Imagine if Downton Abbey neighbored Faerie. Then make the idea ten times more awesome, and you have The Lord of Stariel. I discovered it right before the final book in the quartet came out and binged them all.

The premise—a family’s magical estate will choose its next lord after the old one passes on—is intriguing enough. But what really sold me on this book is Hetta, the prodigal daughter. She’s level-headed, sharp-witted, and unwilling to be limited by society’s (or her family’s) ideas about the proper role of a lady. 

I don’t want to tell you too much about her counterpart—the book should unfold its secrets. But he’d make a strong showing in a Best Hero contest.

The Lord of Stariel

By A.J. Lancaster,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Lord of Stariel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Lord of Stariel is dead. Long live the Lord of Stariel. Whoever that is.

Everyone knows who the magical estate will choose for its next ruler. Or do they?

Will it be the lord’s eldest son, who he despised?

His favourite nephew, with the strongest magical land-sense?

His scandalous daughter, who ran away from home years ago to study illusion?

Hetta knows it won’t be her, and she’s glad of it. Returning home for her father’s funeral, all Hetta has to do is survive the family drama and avoid entanglements with irritatingly attractive local men until the Choosing. Then…


5 book lists we think you will like!

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