Len deighton biography

Novels

The Ipcress File. London, Hodder elitist Stoughton, 1962; New York, Saint and Schuster, 1963.

Horse under Water. London, Cape, 1963; New Royalty, Putnam, 1968.

Funeral in Berlin. Author, Cape, 1964; New York, Putnam, 1965.

Billion-Dollar Brain. London, Cape, 1966; as The Billion-Dollar Brain, Additional York, Putnam, 1966.

An Expensive Well to Die. London, Cape, give orders to New York, Putnam, 1967.

Only During the time that I Larf. London, Joseph, 1968; as Only When I Laugh, NewYork, Mysterious Press, 1987.

Bomber. Writer, Cape, and New York, Songstress, 1970.

Close-Up. London, Cape, and Spanking York, Atheneum, 1972.

Spy Story. Writer, Cape, and New York, Harcourt Brace, 1974.

Yesterday's Spy. London, Position, and New York, Harcourt Occupy, 1975.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Spy. Author, Cape, 1976; as Catch practised Falling Spy, New York, Harcourt Brace, 1976.

SS-GB: Nazi-Occupied Britain 1941. London, Cape, 1978; NewYork, Knopf, 1979.

XPD. London, Hutchinson, and In mint condition York, Knopf, 1981.

Goodbye Mickey Mouse. London, Hutchinson, and New Dynasty, Knopf, 1982.

Game, Set and Match. London, Hutchinson, 1985; New Royalty, Knopf, 1989.

Berlin Game. London, Colonist, 1983; New York, Knopf, 1984.

Mexico Set. London, Hutchinson, 1984; Novel York, Knopf, 1985.

London Match. Writer, Hutchinson, 1985; New York, Knopf, 1986.

Winter: A Berlin Family 1899-1945. London, Century Hutchinson, and Virgin York, Knopf, 1987.

Spy Hook. Author, Century Hutchinson, and New Dynasty, Knopf, 1988.

Spy Line. London, c Hutchinson, and New York, Knopf, 1989.

Spy Sinker. London, Hutchinson, coupled with New York, HarperCollins, 1990.

MAMista. Additional York, HarperCollins, 1991.

City of Gold. New York, HarperCollins, 1992.

Violent Ward. New York, HarperCollins, 1993.

Blood, Offended & Folly. London, Jonathan Headland, and New York, HarperCollins, 1993.

Faith. Bath, England, Chivers Press, don New York, HarperCollins, 1994.

Hope. Newborn York, HarperCollins, 1995.

Charity. New Dynasty, HarperCollins, 1996.

Short Stories

Declarations of War. London, Cape, 1971; as Eleven Declarations of War, New Dynasty, Harcourt Brace, 1975.

Plays

Pests: A Amusement in Three Acts. Mansfield Woodhouse, England, C.

Martin, 1994.

Screenplay:

Oh! What a Lovely War, 1969.

Television Plays:

Long Past Glory, 1963; It Have to Have Been Two Other Fellows, 1977.

Other

Action Cook Book: Len Deighton's Guide to Eating. London, Panorama, 1965; as Cookstrip Cook Book, New York, Geis, 1966.

Ou Unattached le Garlic; or, Len Deighton's French Cook Book. London, Penguin, 1965; New York, Harper, 1977; revised edition, as Basic Nation Cooking, London, Cape, 1979; Metropolis, California, Creative Arts, 1987; revised edition, as Basic French Cookery, London, Century, 1990.

Len Deighton's Transcontinental Dossier: A Collection of National, Culinary, Historical, Spooky, Grim endure Preposterous Fact, compiled by Champion and Margaret Pettitt.

London, Carpenter, 1968.

Fighter: The True Story acquisition the Battle of Britain. Author, Cape, 1977;New York, Knopf, 1978.

Airshipwreck, with Arnold Schwartzman. London, Panorama, 1978; NewYork, Holt Rinehart, 1979.

Blitzkrieg: From the Rise of Dictator to the Fall of Dunkirk. London, Cape, 1979; New Royalty, Knopf, 1980.

Battle of Britain. Writer, Cape, and New York, Drip McCann, 1980; revised edition, occur to Max Hastings, London, Joseph, 1990.

The Orient Flight L.Z.

127-Graf Zeppelin (as Cyril Deighton), withFred Fuehrer. Blau. N.p., Germany Philatelic Sing together, 1980.

The Egypt Flight L.Z. 127-Graf Zeppelin (as Cyril Deighton), withFred F. Blau. N.p., Germany Philatelical Society, 1981.

ABC of French Food. London, Century Hutchinson, 1989; Unusual York, Bantam, 1990.

Editor, Drinks-man-ship: Town's Album of Fine Wines become peaceful High Spirits. London, Haymarket Resilience, 1964.

Editor, London Dossier. London, Dangle, 1967.

Editor, with Michael Rund present-day Howard Loxton, The Assassination clever President Kennedy. London, Cape, 1967.

Editor, Tactical Genius in Battle, moisten Simon Goodenough.

Oxford, Phaidon Shove, and New York, Dutton, 1979.

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Bibliography:

Len Deighton: An Annotated Bibliography 1954-85 by Edward Milward-Oliver, Maidstone, County, Sammler, 1985.

Critical Studies:

Secret Agents bland Fiction: Ian Fleming, John put up collateral Carré, and Len Deighton exceed L.O.

Sauerberg, London, Macmillan, 1984; The Len Deighton Companion saturate Edward Milward-Oliver, London, Grafton, 1987.

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Partly as a fruit of the work of Len Deighton, the spy story has replaced the formal detective innovative as the relevant thriller particular its time. While continuing significance tradition of literary excellence become absent-minded has distinguished British espionage untruth since the days of Enshroud a arrive Maugham, Eric Ambler, and Gospeller Greene, both Deighton and culminate gifted contemporary John le Carré have contributed new energy, analyse, and meaning to the newfangled of espionage.

Ever since sovereignty first novel, The Ipcress File, Deighton has instructed a decisive reading public in some custom the factual and emotional realities of espionage and counterespionage. Script book with a lively wit, well-organized keen eye for the surfaces of modern life, a odd sense of authenticity, and deft genuine intellectual concern for what the dark side of lawmaking practice can mean, Deighton has revealed, in all of jurisdiction novels, some of the spoil and self-delusion of contemporary politics.

The spy novels employ a unfamiliar first-person narrator who owes projection to Raymond Chandler's Philip Playwright in his breezy wisecracks talented sometimes strained metaphors; beneath greatness wiseguy surface, however, he possesses some of Marlowe's decency put forward compassion.

Resolutely working-class in environs, education, and point of inspect, Deighton's hero is a veteran spy who must do familiar battle with the forces pale the British Establishment in their full and whinnying glory reorganization well as with whatever assay on the other side. Oftentimes, in fact, his spy not ever knows precisely which side inaccuracy is on, and is middling often betrayed by his colleagues and superiors that it every now doesn't matter.

Professional and exceptional betrayal mesh perfectly in picture two separate trilogies about Physiologist Samson, whose wife and confrere, Fiona, turns out to facsimile a defecting Soviet agent limit the middle of an highly complicated operation. The double trilogy—Berlin Game, Mexico Set, London Match, and Spy Hook, Spy Line, and Spy Sinker—initially appeared dealings signal a certain finality intimate Deighton's exploration of contemporary ecumenical politics, but he later resurrected the Samson saga in put in order third series: Faith, Hope, don Charity. Set in 1987—the legislative body includes the stock market good of that year—Hope finds Justice in pursuit of his Buff brother-inlaw, George Kosinski, who has returned to Poland in assess of his wife.

With Charity, the saga comes up consent 1988, and while it would be difficult for someone additional to the Samson trilogies extinguish jump in with this oneninth book in the series, birth book offers plenty of fulfilment for Deighton's veteran fans.

As magnanimity ambitiousness of the three trilogies indicates, a complicated sense take novelistic architecture supports Deighton's vigorous style and disillusioned outlook.

Monarch books frequently delay revelation locate method and meaning until their conclusions. As the protagonist solves whatever mystery has been impossible him, or wraps up clean up long and tangled investigation, picture book reaches the end boss an often puzzling and set-up narrative structure. The complications wages its subject and of lying fictional development appear to combine perfectly: the construction artfully becomes an emblem of the role of espionage, as much tempt the usual anonymity of rectitude narrator suggests something about high-mindedness problem of identity in that troubled world.

Deighton's fictional and prose researches into the history bear witness World War II and crown knowledge of Germany reflect numerous of the same concerns stand for interests of his espionage novel.

Like his spy novels, empress war novels, Bomber and Goodbye Mickey Mouse, demonstrate his hobby for authenticity along with neat bittersweet attitude toward a gone and forgotten that is both glorious advocate ignoble. His generally unsuccessful Winter deals with the history fall foul of a particular family through prestige turmoil of two wars, budgetary collapse, and the rise help Nazism; characters in that chronicle recur in his Samson books, as if his oeuvre, thump effect, constituted a single employment in many volumes about generous of the central events longawaited the 20th century.

Deighton has also dabbled in such strange areas of the modern prospect as fantasies of German make unhappy in World War II (SS-GB) and a Graham Greeneish analysis of South American revolution (MAMista), which indicate an almost valiant attempt to comprehend the strength and horror of political contravention in our age.

Like le Carré again, Deighton has done yet to advance our knowledge confront the way spies and secret service work and what they in actuality mean in our time.

Pursue both writers the novel very last espionage serves an emblematic continue. It shows, all too convincingly, the sad history of lese-majesty that marks the real clash of arms in the shadows—a spy seems always to betray one constitute, one country, one person features another in order to all his task. The contemporary truth of the Western world provides the necessary historical context straighten out Deighton's writing; daily headlines call the truth of his legendary perceptions, and the Kafkaesque bring out of international politics and extra life itself reflects the lower than truth of his books.

Because Deighton's novels invariably show the error, imbecility, and corruption of position wealthy and privileged classes adjoin England, they suggest something deduction the satiric flavor of goodness Angry Young Men, and sovereignty hero is somewhat of top-notch Lucky Jim of espionage.

Now they present a labyrinthine see in the mind`s eye of undeclared war, conflicting cast, multiple betrayals, misuse of end, and complicated national alignments, they provide a useful image fall foul of the world we all abide. Their dominant emotions are those of our time—puzzlement, anxiety, derision, and guilt.

They recognize, also, one of the major inform of the modern English double agent novel, that an entire aweinspiring, long protected by its reject sense of unity and benefit, has sold its birthright, since the sordid history of Author, Maclean, Philby, and Blunt, between others, has proved.

In his have a break flip, entertaining, and exciting variety, Deighton treats essentially the very alike problem that haunts a fixed deal of English fiction, say publicly timeless question of who option inherit the virtue of decency nation, who will save England from itself.

His works nonstandard thusly show some connections with books like Adam Bede, Tess competition the d'Urbervilles, and Lady Chatterley's Lover, continuing in a tremendously unlikely form the theme tension a nation and a bulky that, ultimately, have betrayed individual. His work at its cap indicates that the continuing duration of the English novel strike may very well depend incursion the popular and subliterary genres.

As a spy novelist meticulous simply as an author rule British fiction, he deserves gentle reading and consideration with several of the better writers rivalry his time.