The Greatest Spy Books of All Time

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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
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
480 Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons 1932 British English
495 Casino Royale Ian Fleming 1953 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
860 The Solitudes Luis de Góngora 1613 Spanish Spanish
897 The Darkroom Of Damocles W.F. Hermans 1958 Dutch Dutch
961 The Manchurian Candidate Richard Condon 1959 American English
966 The Ipcress File Len Deighton 1962 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
1311 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
1690 Goldfinger Ian Fleming 1959 British English
1709 The Guns Of Navarone Alistair MacLean 1957 British English
1940 The Four Just Men Edgar Wallace 1905 British English
1982 The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne Gilbert White 1789 British English
1989 Your Face Tomorrow Javier Marias 2002 Spanish Spanish
2100 From Russia with Love Ian Fleming 1957 British English
2285 Smiley's People John le Carré 1979 British English
2390 It Can't Always Be Caviar Johannes Mario Simmel 1960 Austrian German
2435 The Scarlet Pimpernel Baroness Emmuska Orczy 1905 British English
2485 The Firm John Grisham 1991 American English
2795 The Eagle Has Landed Jack Higgins 1975 British English
2842 Ashenden, Or, The British Agent W. Somerset Maugham 1928 British English
3021 The Ministry Of Fear Graham Greene 1943 British English
3042 The Great Impersonation E. Phillips Oppenheim 1920 British English
3324 Cause for Alarm Eric Ambler 1938 British English
3388 Bomber Len Deighton 1970 British English
3638 On Sunday Morning She Gathered Herbs Olha Kobylianska 1909 Ukrainian Ukrainian
3802 Manon des sources Marcel Pagnol 1963 French French
3899 Groot Lied Boeck G. A. Bredero 1622 Dutch Dutch
3954 Iarna Bărbaților Ștefan Bănulescu 1965 Romanian Romanian
4228 The Light Of Day Eric Ambler 1962 British English
4310 Epitaph For A Spy Eric Ambler 1938 British English
4310 Journey Into Fear Eric Ambler 1940 British English
4310 The Secret Adversary Agatha Christie 1922 British English
4310 A Gun For Sale Graham Greene 1936 British English
4450 Shibumi Trevanian 1979 American English
4645 Midnight Plus One Gavin Lyall 1965 British English
4646 You Only Live Twice Ian Fleming 1964 British English
5017 High Citadel Desmond Bagley 1965 British English
5282 Declare Tim Powers 2000 American English
5429 Black Sunday Thomas Harris 1975 American English
5468 Six Days Of The Condor James Grady 1974 American English
5617 Shadow 81 Lucien Nahum 1978 American English
5687 The Constant Gardener John le Carré 2001 British English
5721 Warlight Michael Ondaatje 2018 Canadian English
5723 Blake and Mortimer Edgar P. Jacobs 1946 Belgian French
6206 Kolymsky Heights Lionel Davidson 1994 British English
6240 Harry’s Game Gerald Seymour 1975 British English
6308 The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 2009 American English
6407 The Seven Per Cent Solution Nicholas Meyer 1974 American English
6852 The Quiller Memorandum Adam Hall 1965 British English
6892 The Company Robert Littell 2002 American English
6907 Spies Michael Frayn 2002 British 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
7065 Point Of Impact Stephen Hunter 1993 American English
7568 The Puppet Masters Robert A. Heinlein 1951 American English
7589 Enigma Robert Harris 1995 British English
7602 Code Name Verity Elizabeth Wein 2012 British English
7601 The Labyrinth Makers Anthony Price 1970 British English
7610 Running Blind Desmond Bagley 1970 British English
7711 The Honourable Schoolboy John le Carré 1977 British English
7842 The Little Drummer Girl John le Carré 1983 British English
7872 Mr Standfast John Buchan 1919 British English
7935 Fever And Spear Javier Marias 2002 Spanish Spanish
7980 Berta Isla Javier Marias 2017 Spanish Spanish
8251 The Sun Chemist Lionel Davidson 1976 British English
8500 Chinaman's Chance Ross Thomas 1978 American English
8694 Amberlough Lara Elena Donnelly 2017 American English
8747 The Key To Rebecca Ken Follett 1980 British English
9068 Stormbreaker Anthony Horowitz 2000 British English
9218 Game, Set & Match Len Deighton 1983 British English
9221 The Danger Dick Francis 1983 British English
9303 The Bellini Card Jason Goodwin 2008 British English
9333 Decoded Mai Jia 2002 Chinese Chinese
10161 The Confession; Liberation Movements Olen Steinhauer 2004 American English
10180 The Kill Artist Daniel Silva 2000 American English
10220 Her Majesty's Secret Service Christopher Andrew 1985 Unknown English
10934 Consent To Kill Vince Flynn 2005 American English
10936 Blowback Brad Thor 2005 American English
11076 London Rules Mick Herron 2018 British English
11662 Veil Bob Woodward 1987 American English
12957 Clown Town Mick Herron 2025 British Unknown
13086 Shadow Cell Andrew Bustamante, Jihi Bustamante 2025 American English
13362 The Spy James Fenimore Cooper 1821 American English
13362 The Seersucker Whipsaw Ross Thomas 1967 American English
14176 The Spy And The Traitor Ben Macintyre 2018 British English
14698 The Looking Glass War John le Carré 1965 British English
14788 Eastern Approaches Fitzroy Maclean 1949 British English
14833 The Perfect Weapon David E. Sanger 2018 American English
14985 The World At Night Alan Furst 1996 American English
15844 Bodyguard Of Lies Anthony Cave Brown 1975 British English
15915 Diamonds Are Forever Ian Fleming 1956 British English
15915 Ill Met By Moonlight W. Stanley Moss 1950 British English
15915 On Her Majesty's Secret Service Ian Fleming 1963 British English
16572 Moonraker Ian Fleming 1955 British English
16528 The Odessa File Frederick Forsyth 1972 British English
17161 Directorate S Steve Coll 2018 American English
17161 Operation Mincemeat Ben Macintyre 2010 British English
17161 Inside The Company Philip Agee 1975 American English
17161 My Silent War Kim Philby 1968 British English
17161 The Rose Code Kate Quinn 2021 American English
17161 Digital Fortress Dan Brown 1998 American English
17161 Tomás Nevinson Javier Marias 2021 Spanish Spanish
17161 Red Storm Rising Tom Clancy 1986 American English
17161 A Spy Among Friends Ben Macintyre 2014 British English
17161 The Bear And The Dragon Tom Clancy 2000 American English
17161 Debt Of Honor Tom Clancy 1994 American English