The Greatest Books of All Time on Espionage

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
97 For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway 1940 American English
226 The Alexandria Quartet Lawrence Durrell 1957 British English
233 The Spy Who Came in From the Cold John le Carré 1963 British English
344 The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan 1915 British English
415 The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth 1971 British English
455 V Thomas Pynchon 1963 American English
470 The Secret Agent Joseph Conrad 1907 British English
495 Casino Royale Ian Fleming 1953 British English
586 The Third Man Graham Greene 1949 British English
633 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré 1974 British English
790 The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler 1939 British English
831 Riddle of the Sands Erskine Childers 1903 British English
922 The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen 2015 American English
961 The Manchurian Candidate Richard Condon 1959 American English
966 The Ipcress File Len Deighton 1962 British English
967 The Heat of the Day Elizabeth Bowen 1949 British English
976 Rogue Male Geoffrey Household 1939 British English
1048 The Hunt for Red October Tom Clancy 1984 American English
1094 Gorky Park Martin Cruz Smith 1981 American English
1150 Witness Whittaker Chambers 1952 American English
1184 Mr Norris Changes Trains Christopher Isherwood 1935 British English
1310 Our Man In Havana Graham Greene 1958 British English
1485 A Perfect Spy John le Carré 1986 British English
1494 Eye Of The Needle Ken Follett 1978 British English
1500 The Bourne Identity Robert Ludlum 1980 American English
1524 Greenmantle John Buchan 1916 British English
1569 Empire of the Sun J. G. Ballard 1984 British English
1690 Goldfinger Ian Fleming 1959 British English
1708 The Guns Of Navarone Alistair MacLean 1957 British English
1845 Drifting Cities Stratis Tsirkas 1960 Greek Greek
1856 Under Western Eyes Joseph Conrad 1911 British English
1882 Pereira Maintains Antonio Tabucchi 1994 Italian Italian
1884 The Looming Tower Lawrence Wright 2006 American English
1965 A Flag For Sunrise Robert Stone 1981 American English
1989 Your Face Tomorrow Javier Marias 2002 Spanish Spanish
2098 From Russia with Love Ian Fleming 1957 British English
2100 Tree of Smoke Denis Johnson 2007 American English
2132 The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick 1962 American English
2145 Cryptonomicon Neal Stephenson 1999 American English
2240 Flashman George MacDonald Fraser 1969 British English
2284 Smiley's People John le Carré 1979 British English
2335 Libra Don DeLillo 1988 American English
2388 It Can't Always Be Caviar Johannes Mario Simmel 1960 Austrian German
2429 The Physicists Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1962 Swiss German
2483 The Firm John Grisham 1991 American English
2496 Mortals Norman Rush 2003 American English
2638 Fatherland Robert Harris 1992 British English
2702 The Nightingale Kristin Hannah 2015 American English
2793 The Eagle Has Landed Jack Higgins 1975 British English
2839 Ashenden, Or, The British Agent W. Somerset Maugham 1928 British English
2931 The Compleat Werewolf And Other Stories Of Fantasy And Science Fiction Anthony Boucher 1969 American English
3018 The Ministry Of Fear Graham Greene 1943 British English
3039 The Great Impersonation E. Phillips Oppenheim 1920 British English
3319 Metzger's Dog Thomas Perry 1983 American English
3324 Cause for Alarm Eric Ambler 1938 British English
3472 The Armada Garrett Mattingly 1959 American English
3484 Consider Phlebas Iain Banks 1987 Scottish English
3611 The Blue Lotus Hergé 1936 Belgian French
4083 The Day of the Dolphin Robert Merle 1967 French French
4204 The Arabian Nightmare Robert Irwin 1983 British English
4227 The Light Of Day Eric Ambler 1962 British English
4309 Charade John Mortimer 1947 British English
4309 Epitaph For A Spy Eric Ambler 1938 British English
4309 Journey Into Fear Eric Ambler 1940 British English
4309 The Secret Adversary Agatha Christie 1922 British English
4309 The Strange Borders Of Palace Crescent E. Phillips Oppenheim 1934 British English
4392 The Winds Of War Herman Wouk 1971 American English
4449 Shibumi Trevanian 1979 American English
4643 Midnight Plus One Gavin Lyall 1965 British English
4644 You Only Live Twice Ian Fleming 1964 British English
4930 The Military Philosophers Anthony Powell 1968 British English
5280 Declare Tim Powers 2000 American English
5351 Stasiland Anna Funder 2002 Australian English
5426 Black Sunday Thomas Harris 1975 American English
5465 Six Days Of The Condor James Grady 1974 American English
5578 The Journeying Boy Michael Innes 1949 British English
5580 This Is How You Lose The Time War Amal El Mohtar, Max Gladstone 2019 Multiple English
5614 Shadow 81 Lucien Nahum 1978 American English
5630 Queens' Play Dorothy Dunnett 1964 British English
5684 The Constant Gardener John le Carré 2001 British English
5718 Warlight Michael Ondaatje 2018 Canadian English
5760 With A Bare Bodkin Cyril Hare 1946 British English
5927 Marathon Man William Goldman 1974 American English
6153 Use Of Weapons Iain Banks 1990 Scottish English
6155 Pawn In Frankincense Dorothy Dunnett 1969 British English
6202 Kolymsky Heights Lionel Davidson 1994 British English
6236 Harry’s Game Gerald Seymour 1975 British English
6273 American Tabloid James Ellroy 1995 American English
6291 The Ringed Castle Dorothy Dunnett 1971 British English
6295 Stone Junction Jim Dodge 1990 American English
6349 My Brother Michael Mary Stewart 1959 British English
6619 Zone Mathias Enard 2008 French French
6747 Hoffman's Hunger Leon de Winter 1990 Dutch Dutch
6833 The Doorbell Rang Rex Stout 1965 American English
6852 The Quiller Memorandum Adam Hall 1965 British English
6892 The Company Robert Littell 2002 American English
6934 Shooting Script Gavin Lyall 1966 British English
6938 Clear And Present Danger Tom Clancy 1989 American English
7000 The Gray Man Mark Greaney 2009 American English
7018 Charm School Nelson DeMille 1988 American English
7126 Babel-17 Samuel R. Delany 1966 American English
7202 Gb84 David Peace 2004 British English
7567 The Puppet Masters Robert A. Heinlein 1951 American English
7588 Enigma Robert Harris 1995 British English
7600 The Labyrinth Makers Anthony Price 1970 British English
7609 Running Blind Desmond Bagley 1970 British English
7709 The Honourable Schoolboy John le Carré 1977 British English
7764 In Search of Klingsor Jorge Volpi Escalante 1999 Mexican Spanish
7841 The Little Drummer Girl John le Carré 1983 British English
7871 Mr Standfast John Buchan 1919 British English
7934 Fever And Spear Javier Marias 2002 Spanish Spanish
7979 Berta Isla Javier Marias 2017 Spanish Spanish
8142 Jerusalem Commands Michael Moorcock 1992 British English
8249 The Sun Chemist Lionel Davidson 1976 British English
8254 The Kraken King Meljean Brook 2014 American English
8265 Berlin Game Len Deighton 1983 British English
8331 The Brotherhood Of The Rose David Morrell 1984 American English
8374 Never A Gentleman Eileen Dreyer 2011 Unknown English
8384 The Orphan Master's Son Adam Johnson 2012 American English
8495 Chinaman's Chance Ross Thomas 1978 American English