The Greatest Books of All Time on Espionage
Click to learn how this list is calculated.
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.
| Rank | Book | Authors | Year | Country | Language | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17119 | Rogue Heroes | Ben Macintyre | 2016 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Operation Mincemeat | Ben Macintyre | 2010 | British | English | |
| 17119 | The Nelson De Mille Collection | Nelson DeMille | 2003 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Up Country | Nelson DeMille | 2002 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Submergence | J. M. Ledgard | 2011 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Love Is The Drug | Alaya Dawn Johnson | 2014 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Europe In Winter | Dave Hutchinson | 2016 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Ack Ack Macaque | Gareth L. Powell | 2012 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Felaheen | Jon Courtenay Grimwood | 2003 | British | English | |
| 17119 | The Icarus Plot | Timothy Zahn | 2022 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The Broker | John Grisham | 2005 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The Camel Club | David Baldacci | 2005 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The Reckoning | Charles Nicholl | 1992 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Heisenberg's War | Thomas Powers | 1993 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Polar Star | Martin Cruz Smith | 1989 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Inside The Company | Philip Agee | 1975 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The Threat | Andrew Cockburn | 1997 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The Politics Of Heroin | Alfred McCoy | 1972 | American | English | |
| 17119 | My Silent War | Kim Philby | 1968 | British | English | |
| 17119 | The Alice Network | Kate Quinn | 2017 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Red Storm Rising | Tom Clancy | 1986 | American | English | |
| 17119 | A Spy Among Friends | Ben Macintyre | 2014 | British | English | |
| 17119 | The Bear And The Dragon | Tom Clancy | 2000 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Debt Of Honor | Tom Clancy | 1994 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Without Remorse | Tom Clancy | 1993 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Patriot Games | Tom Clancy | 1987 | American | English | |
| 17119 | His Last Bow | Arthur Conan Doyle | 1917 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Code To Zero | Ken Follett | 2000 | British | English | |
| 17119 | The Bourne Ultimatum | Robert Ludlum | 1990 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The Bourne Supremacy | Robert Ludlum | 1986 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Edge Of Eternity | Ken Follett | 2014 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Winter Of The World | Ken Follett | 2012 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Never | Ken Follett | 2021 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Leaving Berlin | Joseph Kanon | 2015 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Agent Running In The Field | John le Carré | 2019 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Spy Ski School | Stuart Gibbs | 2016 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The Achilles Trap | Steve Coll | 2024 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | Any Duke In A Storm | Amalie Howard | 2024 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | The Secret War Of Julia Child | Diana R. Chambers | 2024 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | The Collaborators | Michael Idov | 2024 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | The Siege | Ben Macintyre | 2024 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | Karla's Choice | Nick Harkaway | 2024 | British | English | |
| 17119 | The Expats | Chris Pavone | 2012 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Westwind | Ian Rankin | 1990 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Ilium | Lea Carpenter | 2024 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | Slow Horses | Mick Herron | 2010 | British | English | |
| 17119 | The 6 | David Baldacci | American | Unknown | ||
| 17119 | Our Kind Of Traitor | John le Carré | 2010 | British | English | |
| 17119 | No Hero | John P. Marquand | 1935 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Drink To Yesterday | Manning Coles | 1940 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Pray Silence | Manning Coles | 1940 | British | English | |
| 17119 | The Confusion | Neal Stephenson | 2004 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The System Of The World | Neal Stephenson | 2004 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The Rook | Daniel O'Malley | 2012 | Australian | English | |
| 17119 | Velvet Was The Night | Silvia Moreno-Garcia | 2021 | Mexican | English | |
| 17119 | Q | Luther Blissett | 1999 | Italian | Italian | |
| 17119 | Europe In Autumn | Dave Hutchinson | 2014 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Angelmaker | Nick Harkaway | 2012 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Where Eagles Dare | Alistair MacLean | 1967 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Los Alamos | Joseph Kanon | 1997 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The Firedrake's Eye | Patricia Finney | 1992 | British | English | |
| 17119 | The Fourth Man | Robert Baer | 2022 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Inside The Cia | Ronald Kessler | 1992 | American | English | |
| 17119 | True Believer | Jack Carr | 2019 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Code Red | Vince Flynn, Kyle Mills | 2023 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Spies In The Family | Eva Dillon | 2017 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | The Spy In Moscow Station | Eric Haseltine | 2019 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | Blind Man's Bluff | Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, Annette Drew | 1998 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Stalking The Red Bear | Peter Sasgen | 2009 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | The Lumumba Plot | Stuart A. Reid | 2023 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | The Peacock And The Sparrow | I. S. Berry | 2023 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | The Red Hotel | Alan Philps | 2019 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | Ian Fleming | Nicholas Shakespeare | 2023 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | The Lumumba Plot | Stuart Reid | 2023 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | The Day After Tomorrow | Allan Folsom | 2004 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Stolen Thoughts | Tim Tigner | 2015 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | The Spy | Paulo Coelho | 2016 | Brazilian | Portuguese | |
| 17119 | American Spy | Lauren Wilkinson | 2019 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | The Russia House | John le Carré | 1989 | British | English | |
| 17119 | The Cellist | Daniel Silva | 2021 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The Lions Of Lucerne | Brad Thor | 2002 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Innocence | Heda Margolius Kovály | 1985 | Czech | Czech | |
| 17119 | Like Hidden Fire: The Plot To Bring Down The British Empire | hopkirk | 1994 | Unknown | English | |
| 17119 | A Bird In Winter | Louise Doughty | 2023 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Edge Of Honor | Brad Thor | 2025 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Benedict Arnold | Randall, Willard Sterne | 2012 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The Laughing Monsters | Denis Johnson | 2014 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Divided Allegiance | Elizabeth Moon | 1988 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The Secret Hours | Mick Herron | 2023 | British | English | |
| 17119 | Origami Man | Matthew FitzSimmons | 2020 | American | English | |
| 17119 | The Eye Of God | James Rollins | 2013 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Cold Harbor | Matthew FitzSimmons | 2017 | American | English | |
| 17119 | Remote Control | Andy McNab | 1997 | British | English |