New York Times, 6/9/2025
His stories often juxtapose a single individual against sprawling networks of power and money — an unnamed assassin against the French government in “The Day of the Jackal” (1971), a lone German reporter against a shadowy conspiracy to protect ex-Nazi officers in “The Odessa File” (1972).
“It’s one man against a huge machine,” he told The Times of London in 2024, explaining why so many readers of “The Day of the Jackal” sided with a hit man intent on killing French President Charles de Gaulle, instead of with the authorities. “We don’t like machines, so one guy even trying to kill a human being, taking on this vast machine of government, secret intelligence service, police and so on, has appeal.”
Related posts:
2025
Melody Beattie. (3/24)
John Carlos Blake. (2/4)
Barbara Taylor Bradford. (1/6)
John Casey. (3/5)
Edward Countryman. (5/8)
Nathalie Dupree. (1/19)
John Feinstein. (3/21)
Edna Ferber. (1/15)
Lynn Freed. (6/11)
Jane Gardam. (5/2)
Christopher Jencks. (2/15)
Sam Keen. (4/8)
William Leuchtenburg. (2/2)
David Lodge. (1/6)
Martin E. Marty. (3/5)
Dennis McDougal. (3/20)
Joseph S. Nye, Jr. (6/8)
Tom Robbins. (2/11)
Joseph Wambaugh. (3/1)
2024
Best books on politics. (9/2)
Dorothy Allison. (11/13)
Paul Auster. (5/9)
Lynne Reid Banks. (4/10)
Donald L. Barlett. (10/15)
John Barth. (4/3)
David Boaz. (6/13)
Caleb Carr. (5/26)
Shirley Conran. (5/25)
Robert Coover. (10/12)
Frederick Crews. (6/28)
Charles R. Cross. (8/25)
Nelson DeMille. (10/3)
Daniel C. Dennett. (4/22)
Anne Edwards. (2/4)
Edward Jay Epstein. (1/18)
Helen E. Fisher. (9/6)
H. Bruce Franklin. (6/9)
Sandra M. Gilbert. (11/24)
Ellen Gilchrist. (2/15)
Lesley Hazleton (5/11)
Cristina Henriquez . (3/6)
Gary Indiana. (10/30)
Barbara Howard . (8/8)
Sue Johnson. (6/7)
Barry Kemp. (6/1)
Elias Khoury. (10/4)
Ella Leffland. (10/9)
Hal Lindsey. (12/6)
Alice Munro. (5/19)
Stanley Pottinger. (12/18)
Terry Robards. (6/8)
Thomas Rockwell. (10/14)
Tom Shales. (1/21)
Ross Terrill. (8/14)
Vernor Wing . (4/1)
Dan Wakefield , (3/17)
Alexander Waugh. (8/7)
Westheimer, Dr. Ruth . (7/14)
2023
Martin Amis . (5/31)
Richard Anobile. (3/18)
Russell Banks. (1/11)
A. S. Byatt. (11/18)
Ted Bell. (2/8)
Carol Higgins Clark. (7/13)
Natalie Zemon Davis . (10/27)
Tim Dorsey. (12/10)
Herbert Gold. (11/24)
David Harris. (2/8)
Paul Johnson. (1/15)
Milan Kundera . (7/17)
Harold S. Kushner. (4/30)
Cormac McCarthy. (6/19)
Kevin Phillips. (10/19)
Betty Rollin. (11/26)
Norman Rush. (4/7)
Mimi Sheraton. (4/9)
Charles Simic. (1/16)
Donald Spoto . (2/18)
D. M. Thomas. (3/31)
John Underwood. (5/8)
Fay Weldon. (2/2)
Bill Zehme. (4/1)
2022
Roger Angell. (5/24)
Melissa Bank . (8/7)
Raymond Briggs. (8/20)
Thomas Cahill. (11/16)
Philip K. Dick. (11/20)
Bruce Duffy, (3/13)
Todd Gitlin . (2/8)
Rebecca Godfrey. (11/11)
Ron Goulart. (2/7)
Doris Grumbach . (11/10)
Robert Hicks. (3/8)
Thomas Hoving. (12/19)
Maureen Howard. (3/19)
Dominique Lapierre . (12/11)
Hilary Mantel. (9/26)
Nancy Mitford. (4/4)
P. J. O'Rourke. (2/24)
John J. Osborn Jr. (11/4)
Julie Powell. (11/5)
Thomas Pynchon. (12/17)
Dennis Smith. (1/27)
Susie Steiner . (7/27)
Larry Woiwode . (5/19)
Joan Walsh Anglund. (4/3)
F. Lee Bailey. (6/11)
Katherine Barber. (5/26)
Mary Catherine Bateson. (1/26)
Rosalind Cartwright. (3/21)
Kim Chernin . (1/10)
Beverly Cleary. (4/8)
Angelo Codevilla. (10/10)
Christina Crosby. (1/31)
Geoff Crowther. (5/17)
Eric Jerome Dickey. (1/9)
Morrie Dickstein . (3/31)
Scott Donaldson. (1/11)
Stephen Dunn. (6/29)
Lawrence Ferlinghetti. (2/24)
James R. Flynn. (1/30)
Larry Flynt. (2/12)
Lucinda Franks. (5/11)
Joseph Galloway. (8/25)
Norman Golb. (2/22)
Lawrence Graham. (3/9)
Charles Grodin. (5/20)
Maria Guarnascheilli , book editor. (2/18)
James Gunn. (2/21)
Tony Hendra . (3/7)
Robert L. Herbert (2/12)
Norman Juster. (3/16)
Donald Kagan. (8/20)
His King . (4/9)
Lyn Macdonald. (5/15)
Janet Malcolm. (6/18)
Peter Manso , (4/10)
Jason Matthews. (5/4)
Margaret Maron. (3/13)
Larry McMurtry. (4/2)
Ved Mehta. (1/12)
Robert Middlekauff. (9/3)
Marie Mongan. (3/22)
John Naisbitt. (4/21)
Sharon Kay Penman. (2/8)
Steven B. Oates. (9/1)
Robert Quackenbush. (7/7)
Deborah Rhode. (1/28)
James Ridgeway. (2/16)
Naomi Rosenblum (3/6)
Donald Rumsfeld. (7/6)
Charles Saunders. (2/4)
David Swensen . (5/13)
Bryan Sykes. (1/14)
Athan Theoharis. (6/14/)
Ed Ward. (5/16)
Michael Thomas. (8/19)
Steven Weinberg. (8/5)
Adam Zagajewski. (3/27)
2020
Patricia Bosworth. (4/6)
Randall Kenan. (9/29)
John Le Carre . (12/23/2020)
Johanna Lindsey. (1/15)
Barry Lopez. (12/29)
Alison Lurie. (12/7)
Sylvia Jukes Morris. (1/20)
Charlers Portis. (2/19)
Jill Paton Walsh. (11/29)
Charles Webb. (6/30)
Elizabeth Wurtzel. (1/11)
Warren Adler . (4/23)
Kate Braverman. (10/28)
Stephen Dixon. (11/12)
Ernest J. Gaines. (11/8)
And Jenkins . (3/10)
Judith Krantz. (6/27)
Paule Marshall. (8/27)
Robert K. Massie. (12/4)
Martin Mayer. (8/3)
Wright Morris. (7/25)
Toni Morrison. (8/12)
Anthony Price. (6/17)
James I. Robertson. (11/20)
Anne Rivers Siddons. (9/19)
John Simon. (12/1)
Sol Stein. (9/30)
Brad Watson. (8/2)
Lonnie Wheeler. (7/15)
Herman Wouk . (5/20)
Neal Thompson. (6/17)
Barbara Kafka. (6/8)
Aline Countess of Romanones. (12/17)
Kit Reed. (10/1)
E. M. Nathanson. (4/10)
Gunter Grass (1927-2015). (4/15)
Thomas Berger (1924-2014). (7/23)
Barbara Branden. (12/26)
1 comment:
Reality like Ukrainian drones flying out of remotely opened containers, exploding pagers and walkie-talkies or one day soon even exploding toothbrushes and razors is leaving John le Carré, Ian Fleming and espionage fiction in the ashtray of history. Why not forget about fictional agents like Bond and Bourne dashing to save the world from disaster? Why not forget about CIA and MI6 officers reclining on their couches dreaming up espionage scenarios to thrill you? Check out what a real MI6 and CIA secret agent does nowadays. Why not browse through TheBurlingtonFiles website and read about Bill Fairclough's escapades when he was an active MI6 and CIA agent? The website is rather like an espionage museum without an admission fee ... and no adverts. You will soon be immersed in a whole new world which you won't want to exit.
After that experience you may not know who to trust so best read Beyond Enkription, the first novel in The Burlington Files series. It's a noir fact based spy thriller that may shock you. What is interesting is that this book is apparently mandatory reading in some countries’ intelligence agencies' induction programs. Why? Maybe because the book is not only realistic but has been heralded by those who should know as “being up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake”. It is an enthralling read as long as you don’t expect fictional agents like Ian Fleming's incredible 007 to save the world or John le Carré’s couch potato yet illustrious Smiley to send you to sleep with his delicate diction, sophisticated syntax and placid plots!
See https://theburlingtonfiles.org/news_2023_06.07.php and https://theburlingtonfiles.org/news_2022.10.31.php and https://theburlingtonfiles.org/news_2025.04.21.php.
Post a Comment