THE 50 GREATEST SPY/ESPIONAGE NOVELS OF ALL TIME

[@dm1523]

Great Video! Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Russia House are two of my all time favorite books ever. They are both slow burns, but so worth the read and reread and reread. It takes so much metal energy and there are so many layers. I always have one of the two books with me on a trip, because I am always finding more with each read. Clancy is great too. Cardinal of the Kremlin is fantastic. When ones own ghosts of war keep a person grounded enough to not succumb to the KGB's latest tricks, you know you are operating on a different level. I think Without Remorse to be his best. Nick Herron of Slow Horses fame should be (and will be) in this list as well. He has a level of wit not often seen in the genre.

[@Mark.remarking]

Mick Herron

[@lesleygordon9634]

Fantastic. The best book video I have seen but then I’m a big fan of spy stories. I have only read nine of these so plenty to keep me going. I guessed the top book and it is deservedly so. I would recommend Ben MacIntyre for non-fiction spy stories.

[@verodunstan7864]

Thanks for sharing Tristan. Merry Christmas!

[@markreadsbo]

What a great video I have not read Follett's Eye of the Needle yet but am reading Triple by him, which is brilliant I find Ken follet an under rated writer I know he has sold lots of books but he brings a humanity his writing that very few writers do.

[@chriscw1443]

Loved it! Thank you... (you creak as much as you like)...Great as always

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Syssn3ck]

Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you, Tristan.

[@suzannes8017]

This is my favorite area of purely escape reading. I've read many of these, and you have introduced several that I haven't heard of. Thanks for a really useful list!

[@tommonk7651]

Now this is my kind of list! I can't tell you how many of these are in my library.... I'm currently listening to the Gabriel Allon series.... Very good list and excellent Top 5..... I think I can guess #1. (Got it.... 😁) I'm with you on Bond, as well.... I want realism.

[@veronicamaria2730]

Great list! I also enjoy Helen MacInnes. " Assignment in Brittany" was my favorite.

[@JudithDean-ez7be]

I look forward to all your book reviews and lists. Your "spy list" was exceptional. I've only read a handful of the titles on this list, but now have an abundance of new choices for future reads. I would very much like to encourage you to do more genre lists if time and personal obligations premit it. Thank you so much -- love your channel.

[@juanmorales9738]

Great video, Tristan. One of my favorites.

[@ellenrobinson6381]

Well done. Love Buchan and Childers.

[@adellajones9887]

Merry Christmas 🎁

[@juneclifford8377]

Brilliant video.

[@glockensig]

Some of these espionage books used to be well kept secrets..... Way to go.....

[@margaretinsydney3856]

I'm not really a spy novel person, so the only books I've read on this long list are the quirky ones: Our Man in Havana, The Quiet American, and The Secret Agent. I love all of these. I tried with Le Carre, but I got bogged down and confused, but I loved the TV series. I do appreciate the work that went into this video -- into all your videos! I'm just about to join your patreon group. I've acquired all the novels, and have already read The Honjin Murders, which is fabulous! 😊

[@mannymistry68]

The Hunt for Red October - I'm afraid you did what most synopses writers of the movie do. You give it away. The best part of the book (which thankfully I read before watching the movie) is that we dont know if Ramius is going to defect or if he is going to launch his missiles on America.

[@scarletowl8337]

Yay thank you! My favorite genre! 🕵️‍♀️A very happy Christmas to you and your family! Happy 2025 reading 📖 ❤

[@jeank3224]

Great and welcoming list! I’ve been looking for a genre shift to and this is perfect timing. Much appreciate your effort and result in crafting this for us. Merry Christmas.

[@matildac9672]

Another Great video, spy novels are another genre i love. i love these suggestion videos. What a way to start christmas day with a Tristan video. Merry Xmas Tristan and family

[@bodytrainer1crane730]

Excellent video. Thank you! And Happy Holidays 2024 from the U.S.

[@Mark.remarking]

Great job Tristan. Thank you.

[@Mark.remarking]

Merry Christmas 🎄

[@anotherblonde]

First read Le Carre, a discarded paperback, in a hostel in Athens in 1979 (Dianas'): The Honourable Schoolboy. Loved TTSP as a book and from the original BBC series which I wish they would reissue in full. Honourable mention for me should go to Brian Freemantle and his Charlie Muffin series and other books under pseudonyms. Surprised The Fourth Protocol didn't make the cut. Just back from holiday where I only saw paperbacks being read.I've read 41 of the 50 named books.

[@grahamarcher2729]

Thanks for sharing your video Tristan. I'm a big John le Carré fan, and at the moment I'm reading his son's book "Karla's Choice" which is also about George Smiley. He writes under the name of Nick Harkaway. Merry Christmas!

[@bananasplit3805]

Great video! Looking forward to read more from ale Carre and Ambler.

[@sandracoombs2255]

Fabulous! That was so well done - to go through so many books and nail the heart of each would not have been easy. I loved your presentation on each. Thank you Tristan. Have a wonderful Christmas. When I was young my favourite gifts from my parents were books at Christmas. I’d go off to my bedroom after lunch and read! I can imagine you doing the same. Enjoy!!😊❤

[@RB-zl7mr]

I appreciate all the research you put into this video. I will be saving this for future reference!

[@johngreaves3749]

My favourite spy novel has to be Our Man in Havana, Graham Greene. A brilliant satire and absolutely hilarious in places.

[@derekp7864]

A great novel not in your list is Graham Greene's The Ministry of Fear, published in 1943 and set in London during the blitz. You could also add all the Smiley books and all the Deighton spy novels.

[@chandras.8051]

Fully agree with you derekp

[@audiophileman7047]

It certainly sounds like a terrific collection of books for the spy/espionage book aficionado. I see a number of books on your list that intrigue me and make me want to pick them up and read them. For the full effect when reading an Ian Fleming James Bond novel, make a Vesper Martini, "shaken, not stirred", and sip it while you read. 🍸

[@scp240]

Graham Greene and Eric Ambler are both among my favorites in this genre, if not all literature. As for Fleming, I grew up with the movies and read them all when I was a mere lad. I recently re-read Goldfinger, and it was interesting but not all that well written in my estimation. Perhaps best to stick to the movies in this case. Conrad's Secret Agent is fine but not among his best works in my opinion. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was excellent but the next two volumes kind of trailed off. As for the rest, I haven't read them but I appreciate the review and ranking and added a couple of them to my TBR. I suppose I need to get around to Le Carre.

[@nedludd7622]

A helpful list of which I have only read about half, though I would put "The Company" much higher up. An omission is James Ellroy's "Underworld USA Trilogy" which combines historical figures with fictional characters.

[@mel8186]

Thanks for the list, going to work my wag through it

[@JamesTownsend-y1j]

Merry Christmas Tristan!

[@RocketRoketto]

Spy novels!?!? Tristan, this is a very strange way to propose. But yes. Ill marry you! ❤❤

[@scottgraham1143]

I love the Ashenden stories, so I hope they don’t get forgotten. Only one Alan Furst book? I would strongly recommend Olen Steinhaeur and his Yalta Boulevard series. Both above authors are American, but their stories have a great feel for Europe. Also, Gerald Seymour is a serious omission - Harry’s Game is a classic.

[@alidabaxter5849]

Thank you for all the work you put into this video, which features a genre I love and books which I reread all the time. It's superb that you went all the way back to "Ashenden" (I understand that Maugham, whose novels I reread all the time, was so disgusted by his experience of the British secret service that he left Britain and made his home abroad for ever after). "The Riddle of the Sands" is very slow, I think, by today's standards, but from then on the genre absolutely gallops. My copies of le Carre's books are dog eared with rereading, and I completely agree with your top pick. Incidentally, I rushed to my bookshelves to check that I still had a copy of "Gorky Park" because I hadn't reread that one for a while! May I ask whether you considered the American writer Charles McCarry at any point? He worked for the CIA, one of his books deals with the way "Doctor Zhivago" got to the west, and another has an interesting theory about the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy. Thank you again for a wonderful video.

[@JRBWare1942]

I've read only two books on this list: Le Carre's _The Spy Who Came in from the Cold_ and Childers' _The Riddle of the Sands._ While I thought Le Carre's book was probably a lot more consistent with the reality of spy craft than most such novels--in that it's a lot more humdrum than it is exciting--I found it a bit disappointing because the characters were so flat. I found Childers' book much more interesting, although it too was not without its problems. It took a long time to really get going. As an American, I found the description of British culture in 1903 to be far more foreign than I ever would have expected--and quite off-putting. Another problem was the huge amount of nautical terminology I was unfamiliar with. However, once the story really got underway, it was interesting. What astounded me was how well Childers was able to see what was going to happen in the First World War.

[@TheNutmegStitcher]

Love this! Sometimes I just want the escape of a good spy thriller, but one still well written. ❤

[@the16thGemini]

This is an excellent list of great works both past and present of the spy/espionage genre. These writers all did one common thing expertly..... pull from and reflect the times. This listing pairs well with Tim Shipman of Spybrary Top 125 Spy Thriller Authors.

[@siobhancondon8109]

Happy Christmas Tristan 🌲🕊🌲

[@StefanAndresen]

Hello, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy doesn't seem to be on your list, and i cannot understand this at all! Would be very interested in your reasons for this, though. Thank you.

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

Look Again 😂

[@LudwigWanGherca]

if you see the video until the end you get a surprise

[@StefanAndresen]

@@tristanandtheclassics6538 Ah, of course. You got me there - well played, Sir! 🤣

[@anthonyandrew6725]

More creaking than a cabin on the Pequod. Good list though. Merry Christmas.

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

I know. Its an old table, and I get too relaxed and lean on it.😂

[@rp7390]

Creaking?

[@31LaschG]

Would have liked to see a book by John Trenhaile on this list?

[@dandelves]

John Le Carré is the Tolkien of the Spy genre

[@johnbailey2933]

Interesting list. During the holiday season, one can debate what is a 'Christmas Movie' - Die Hard?, hell, yes ;-) Yours caused me to ponder what is a 'spy novel'? Case in point, Hund for Red October, a great book and movie,, but is it a spy novel? Not so sure. To identify 50 books, maybe requires a more liberal definition. Enjoy your videos.

[@tedgross9958]

tough audio, couldn't stay with it unfortunately

[@tristanandtheclassics6538]

Thanks for the feedback.

[@Mark.remarking]

I didn't find that myself.

[@tmtb80]

Where is Our Man in Havana ????**

[@lolaphearse3688]

Personally, I would put all the Mick Herrons from 1st spot down,however many books he has written by this point, and only then consider anybody else! Love the TV show also!

[@igorgoliney9494]

I am amazed that there are 50 spy novels. Who reads them? I read some in the list. I would not classify Quiet American so. It is a good book. I read The day of the Jackal. It is famous among the game of go players. I try to read From Russia with Love when it was allowed. It was an absolute trash with one dimensional characters. I did not finish that parody.

[@purplesprigs]

I have read several Tom Clancy books, and they all feel as if they were written to appeal to 14 year old boys..long on testosterone, but short on deep thought.

[@JRBWare1942]

That's so funny! I've never read any Clancy. However, I was once working in an independent bookstore, and one day a boy of about 14 walked in with his father. He was really gung-ho on getting the latest Clancy novel. The store's owner overheard this and told the boy, "Tom Clancy has written the same novel a dozen times. Why don't you buy something worthwhile instead?"

[@aamnahere6250]

There can be fair agreement or disagreement with the opinions of authors and critics in forming such lists but they certainly cannot be accused of being entirely without merit. However, I definitely wouldn't place value on the opinions of spies about such books anymore than I would give value to the opinion of serial killers on true crime non fiction. They're more often than not riddled with stereotypical characters as well as racist tropes and the lists almost exclusively feature American and European authors glorifying American and European characters.

[@JRBWare1942]

I don't place merit on the opinions of those who are obviously slaves to political correctness.

[@dazzling9982]

I hate these so-called “booktubers” that posts these lists of best books but don’t show a single physical copy. It’s so obvious they haven’t read a word. BORING! 😴

[@lucyq7ollie]

This guy is the best booktuber online.

[@bananasplit3805]

We are thankful for these lists (even though I only listen to the full description for the books that I’ve read; don’t want any spoilers).

[@dazzling9982]

@@lucyq7ollie the way you guys are so easily tricked is quite embarrassing

[@rp7390]

Lol

[@rp7390]

Shut up, and find a valid target for that kind of criticism

[@susannah1066]

I don't read much fiction-but I have seen many of these as movies. Great List. 🦘