For most of the second half of the Twentieth Century, the world was dominated by two superpowers with opposing ideologies. This atmosphere of fear and distrust made for some riveting stories, told through media like movies, musicals and of course books. With such a wide variety of books on the theme, it may be difficult to choose which Cold War author is your ideal storyteller. It may help you if you know what type of book you're looking for.
The Cold War was different from most wars in history. The two main powers involved, the USA and the USSR, never fought each other directly even though they did get involved in armed conflicts all over the world. Instead, the era was one of extreme political tension where everyone was afraid of firing the first shot in case it would trigger a third world war.
In an atmosphere of mistrust, you have the perfect breeding ground for spies. The Cold War soon became the golden era of the spy novel, especially in the USA and Britain. Few themes can inspire stories of intrigue, drama, adventure and action quite like espionage does.
One of the masters of the spy thriller is British writer John Le Carre, creator of, among others, 'The Spy Who Came In from the Cold', 'The Tailor of Panama', 'The Russia House' and 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'. Le Carre used his insider's knowledge as a former spy for the British secret service to great effect, just like fellow ex-agent Graham Greene did. Journalists often made great tellers of spy stories too, with Frederick Forsythe a prime example.
The espionage genre gave rise to some of the most popular fictional characters. Secret agents like Jack Ryan, created by Tom Clancy, and Jason Bourne, created by Robert Ludlum, returned in several novels and were immortalized on the silver screen too. The one that became the man every man wanted to be and every woman wanted to be with was Ian Fleming's martini-drinking, tuxedo-wearing Brit best known by his secret agent code, 007.
It's not only the USA and UK that produced great storytellers during the Cold War era. From behind the Iron Curtain came the voices of writers like the Czechs Milan Kundera and Vaclav Havel, the latter later president of his country. However, many of these writers' works were suppressed if they were critical of their country's political system and Nobel Prize winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn of the Soviet Union and Reinaldo Arenas from Cuba were just two of the authors who were subjected to imprisonment and eventually were expelled from their countries.
If you prefer non-fiction, you'll find a wealth of books that deal with every aspect of the era. There are political analyses, accounts of incidents like the Cuban Missile Crisis and biographies of key figures in the world arena. The stories of regular people are particularly moving, like those told in Anna Funder's 'Stasiland: Stories From Behind the Berlin Wall', about life in communist East Germany.
There are several ways to discover a new favorite Cold War author. One is to simply read every book you can find on the theme. However, it's probably easier and less time-consuming to ask at the library or the bookstore in your area. You'll also find a variety of lists, reviews and suggestions online.
The Cold War was different from most wars in history. The two main powers involved, the USA and the USSR, never fought each other directly even though they did get involved in armed conflicts all over the world. Instead, the era was one of extreme political tension where everyone was afraid of firing the first shot in case it would trigger a third world war.
In an atmosphere of mistrust, you have the perfect breeding ground for spies. The Cold War soon became the golden era of the spy novel, especially in the USA and Britain. Few themes can inspire stories of intrigue, drama, adventure and action quite like espionage does.
One of the masters of the spy thriller is British writer John Le Carre, creator of, among others, 'The Spy Who Came In from the Cold', 'The Tailor of Panama', 'The Russia House' and 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'. Le Carre used his insider's knowledge as a former spy for the British secret service to great effect, just like fellow ex-agent Graham Greene did. Journalists often made great tellers of spy stories too, with Frederick Forsythe a prime example.
The espionage genre gave rise to some of the most popular fictional characters. Secret agents like Jack Ryan, created by Tom Clancy, and Jason Bourne, created by Robert Ludlum, returned in several novels and were immortalized on the silver screen too. The one that became the man every man wanted to be and every woman wanted to be with was Ian Fleming's martini-drinking, tuxedo-wearing Brit best known by his secret agent code, 007.
It's not only the USA and UK that produced great storytellers during the Cold War era. From behind the Iron Curtain came the voices of writers like the Czechs Milan Kundera and Vaclav Havel, the latter later president of his country. However, many of these writers' works were suppressed if they were critical of their country's political system and Nobel Prize winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn of the Soviet Union and Reinaldo Arenas from Cuba were just two of the authors who were subjected to imprisonment and eventually were expelled from their countries.
If you prefer non-fiction, you'll find a wealth of books that deal with every aspect of the era. There are political analyses, accounts of incidents like the Cuban Missile Crisis and biographies of key figures in the world arena. The stories of regular people are particularly moving, like those told in Anna Funder's 'Stasiland: Stories From Behind the Berlin Wall', about life in communist East Germany.
There are several ways to discover a new favorite Cold War author. One is to simply read every book you can find on the theme. However, it's probably easier and less time-consuming to ask at the library or the bookstore in your area. You'll also find a variety of lists, reviews and suggestions online.
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