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Basil's War
Basil St. Florian is an accomplished agent in the British Army, tasked with dozens of dangerous missions for crown and country across the globe. But his current mission, going undercover in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, might be his toughest assignment yet. He will be searching for an ecclesiastic manuscript that doesn’t officially exist, one that genius professor Alan Turing believes may hold the key to a code that could prevent the death of millions and possibly even end the war.
St. Florian isn’t the classic British special agent with a stiff upper lip—he is a swashbuckling, whisky-drinking cynic and thrill-seeker who resents having to leave Vivien Leigh’s bed to set out on his crucial mission. Despite these proclivities, though, Basil’s Army superiors know he’s the best man for the job, carrying out his espionage with enough charm and quick wit to make any of his subjects lower their guards.
Action-packed and bursting with WWII-era intrigue (much of which has basis in fact), Basil’s War is a classic espionage thriller from Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, essayist, and bestselling novelist Stephen Hunter.
St. Florian isn’t the classic British special agent with a stiff upper lip—he is a swashbuckling, whisky-drinking cynic and thrill-seeker who resents having to leave Vivien Leigh’s bed to set out on his crucial mission. Despite these proclivities, though, Basil’s Army superiors know he’s the best man for the job, carrying out his espionage with enough charm and quick wit to make any of his subjects lower their guards.
Action-packed and bursting with WWII-era intrigue (much of which has basis in fact), Basil’s War is a classic espionage thriller from Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, essayist, and bestselling novelist Stephen Hunter.
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First published May 4, 2021
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About the author
Stephen Hunter
110 books1,964 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Stephen Hunter is the author of fourteen novels, and a chief film critic at The Washington Post, where he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
Stephen Hunter is the author of fourteen novels, and a chief film critic at The Washington Post, where he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 240 reviews
May 18, 2021
I'm looking for the Stephen Hunter who wrote Point of Impact and Time to Hunt and Pale Horse Coming. Where has that guy gone?
February 15, 2025
Remember Dirty White Boys? Remember Hot Springs? Remember Havana? Remember when Stephen Hunter could really write?
A suave British spy who likes martinis and has an affair with Vivien Leigh. Cruel, arrogant Nazi officers. Stumbling, mumbling, lovable Winston Churchill. And it's all served up in stilted language, with no real emotional commitment. Awful, awful dialogue. Not witty, not light, more lugubrious and labored. Like Arthur Miller trying to be Oscar Wilde. "More hub, more bub. More alarums and excursions. Splendid job, old chap. I'm sure Miss Leigh will reward you appropriately."
How long can this go on? How much lower is this guy going to sink? Coming soon: Earl Swagger Meets Archie and Jug Head!
A suave British spy who likes martinis and has an affair with Vivien Leigh. Cruel, arrogant Nazi officers. Stumbling, mumbling, lovable Winston Churchill. And it's all served up in stilted language, with no real emotional commitment. Awful, awful dialogue. Not witty, not light, more lugubrious and labored. Like Arthur Miller trying to be Oscar Wilde. "More hub, more bub. More alarums and excursions. Splendid job, old chap. I'm sure Miss Leigh will reward you appropriately."
How long can this go on? How much lower is this guy going to sink? Coming soon: Earl Swagger Meets Archie and Jug Head!
November 29, 2021
A perfectly fine spy thriller that has well fleshed out characters on both the British and German sides of the conflict. It has a hint of the attitude toward the absurdity of war and bureaucracy of Catch-22 or Cryptonomicon (especially with Turing being a character) and the protagonist spy is appropriately charming, insouciant, deadly, and has a very stiff upper lip. I probably won't pend too much time thinking about this book over the coming years, but it was a very fun beach read.
**Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
**Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 9, 2021
Stephen Hunter is a master. Very good book but not quite up to the standard of the Bob Lee Swagger series.
June 23, 2021
My first time reading this author's work and it's okay. The description and the title made it more exciting than I found it to be. The main issue I have is that the characters all seem to be caricatures. There's the protagonist, Basil, who is this rich Englishman playboy with a devil-may-care attitude. Then there's the bumbling SS officer, who harangues and threatens to send people to the Russian front when not obeyed. The plot is kind of convoluted but also simplistic. The reasoning behind the mission to find a copy of this manuscript called "The Path to Jesus" is convoluted. But ultimately, this story is mainly about Basil making his way to and from occupied France, while outsmarting the Germans. He doesn't do any decoding of secret messages or the like. That is left to Alan Turing. That's another thing too, is that the author uses fictionalized real life people, such as Turing, Churchill, and Vivien Leigh. But they too seem to be caricatures of themselves. As I said, it's an okay book. It's not one that is compelling me to go check out this author's other works though.
July 23, 2021
Blah!
For those of you who have not experienced Hunter's Swagger series yet, don't give up on Stephen Hunter. The two Swagger series, Bobby Lee and Earl, and Ray Cruz are in my opinion all solid 4 stars to 5 stars. I loved them. But this, not so much! I couldn't even finish it.
For those of you who have not experienced Hunter's Swagger series yet, don't give up on Stephen Hunter. The two Swagger series, Bobby Lee and Earl, and Ray Cruz are in my opinion all solid 4 stars to 5 stars. I loved them. But this, not so much! I couldn't even finish it.
March 23, 2021
I was recently privileged to receive an ARC of the upcoming novel, "Basil's War", by Stephen Hunter. I had read and enjoyed a number of Hunter's works in the past; consequently, I must confess that I had high expectations for this foray into the literature of World War II. With the caveat of noting my high expectations, I must confess my disappointment at this book. The tone is reminiscent of that associated with the Flashman novels, for those of you familiar with those irreverent romps through the 19th century British Empire and its battlefields and boudoirs, and it struck me as self-consciously irreverent with a kind of forced wit about it that grated upon my expectations.
A kind of amalgam of spy thriller and military action work, I found that it failed on both levels (but do recall my high expectations). I found the humor forced and tedious, especially in view of the World War II context. I enjoy fast paced military fiction, heavy on action, and that is emphatically not what one finds here. In short, this reader was disappointed with this text. I don't doubt that there is an audience out there for this, but despite my avid interest in the literature of and about World War II, I simply find that I am not part of that audience.
A kind of amalgam of spy thriller and military action work, I found that it failed on both levels (but do recall my high expectations). I found the humor forced and tedious, especially in view of the World War II context. I enjoy fast paced military fiction, heavy on action, and that is emphatically not what one finds here. In short, this reader was disappointed with this text. I don't doubt that there is an audience out there for this, but despite my avid interest in the literature of and about World War II, I simply find that I am not part of that audience.
June 28, 2021
So disappointed. His other books are really, really good and I was excited to see a potential new series and character set in WWII. It was really more of a short story and a simplistic, cliche one at that. An intriguing premise but never lived up to its potential.
July 12, 2021
No, don’t do it! If you’re a Stephen Hunter fan, don’t bother with this one.
June 22, 2021
DNF. In fact, I could only stand about 30 minutes of it, and that took me 3 days. It was just too painful to get back to, so I kept avoiding it.
Where did this come from? I have loved so many of Stephen Hunter's books, that I was excited to see there was a new one. Bob "the Nailer", his son Earl, and Ray Cruz too. All those books were amazing. But this? It read like some teenager had been given a challenge to pack in all the cheesy British phrases and slang from every low-budget WWII movie ever made. I tried to do the audio book version, which probably made it all the worse. Imagine that terrible dialog, now read out in a stuffy British accent. Horrible doesn't even begin to cover it.
I want the Swaggers back (sigh)
Where did this come from? I have loved so many of Stephen Hunter's books, that I was excited to see there was a new one. Bob "the Nailer", his son Earl, and Ray Cruz too. All those books were amazing. But this? It read like some teenager had been given a challenge to pack in all the cheesy British phrases and slang from every low-budget WWII movie ever made. I tried to do the audio book version, which probably made it all the worse. Imagine that terrible dialog, now read out in a stuffy British accent. Horrible doesn't even begin to cover it.
I want the Swaggers back (sigh)
June 18, 2021
Stephen Hunter, who brought us the wonderful novels featuring Earl and Bob Lee Swagger brings us more historical fiction, this time, featuring Basil St Florian, an operative in the British SOE during WWII...He's a cliched, upper crust, stiff upper lip, have a drink at Boodle's type that seemed to populate the ranks of the service...Basil's mission is to penetrate Nazi-occupied France to photograph some pages of an ecclesiastic manuscript, one that Bletchley Park and Alan Turing believe can play an important role in getting important info to the Soviets without arousing their suspicions...Just Okay!!!
May 20, 2021
Novels set in France during World War Two are having a long moment right now - think of all the covers featuring the backs of women in fantastic clothing confronting the Eiffel Tower or Montmartre - always a Paris setting. These books are so gendered in their blatant appeal to what publishers think women want from historical fiction that they don't even bother to vary the formula of cover or story. A lone woman fights evil Nazis and collaborators, saves the odd Jew and helpless child, somehow manages to hang onto a fabulous piece of jewelry/real estate/secret code that will make All The Difference to future generations. But now along comes Stephen Hunter with his testosterone fueled answer to all this feminine fluff. Basil's War is a very quick read featuring an English spy whose cunning and ingenuity far outstrips everyone else's on his dangerous mission into France at the peak of WWII. Basil is confident, charming, less patriotic than most around him - less Bulldog Drummond than Rex Harrison, but still able to bed Vivien Leigh, hammer down endless whiskey shots and keep his cool. His success depends rather too much on a downright sympathetic German police officer but the whole episode slips down like those drams Basil is always quaffing. Hunter is not afraid to be pulpy, louche and high-handed with the frankly incredible escapades with plane, train and identification papers, a bit like his hero. Still, I'd rather read about Basil than spend time with the current crop of Brave Lady Spies, if only because he has a sense of humour. More sausage, less crumpet - now there's a terrible pun Basil would appreciate!
March 25, 2021
To give you an idea how I didn’t want Stephen Hunter’s rousing new novel #Basil’s War to end ,upon finishing I immediately read it again. What a book - action, adventure, espionage, mystery - quite simply a thriller that never lets up thanks to its charming rogue protagonist, Basil St. Florian. It’s World War Two London and Basil is about to bed his most recent and glamorous lady friend when an “ Action This Day” memo arrives sending Basil into a very intriguing and dangerous mission that could drastically alter the outcome of the war. Behind enemy lines to Paris Basil must clandestine travel to retrieve information that will be used to hopefully break enemy codes. Relying on his wiles, wisdom and wit, he sets upon his mission impossible with the savoir faire of James Bond. Perhaps the most amazing thing about #Basil’s War is the fact that this seemingly very British tale was written by an American - a bit of literary prestidigitation that allows Mr. Hunter to pay homage to his predecessors admirably. Another big plus is the pacing : the story moves like a bat out of hell, with a style that is lean and mean. All in all, five stars to Stephen Hunter for #Basil’sWar and a sincere wish that this is just the beginning of Basil’s adventures.
May 31, 2021
Basil's War is a great little story from favorite author Stephen Hunter. It's full of humor and thrills and a neat story about codebreaking. I have learned that you never regret reading something from this author, even though I prefer his books about the Swaggers, all of them. My favorite being Earl. I still haven't found a book dissapointing from this writer. If you like books about the military or shooting you should try this author.
March 18, 2021
I think that I have read all of Hunter's many books. My favorites were the early Swagger novels. I'm happy that he has now moved on to a new character, one Basil St. Florian. He's a British spy with a witty sense of humor. Quite a difference from the Swagger series. I found it refreshing. I hope that Hunter continues the St. Florian storyline. The story itself is quite good. I found myself intrigued, interested, and surprised throughout the book. The ending was quite surprising. This is a short read, I finished it in two evenings. But it's highly satisfying. It's good to have Hunter back on top of his game!
August 16, 2021
One should always take note of the publisher of a book before investing any time on it.The Mystery Press? Really? I was looking for something light but gripping for a quick summer read. I guess I found it, but spare me the misspellings, misusages, the unexplained references and impossible coincidences of plot. And must we involve a real life actress who had enough tragedy in her own life?
March 10, 2022
Basil St. Florian is a British spy during WWII, with an assignment to go undercover in Nazi-occupied France. A "normal" spy he is no - romancing Hollywood starlet Vivian Leigh, working with code-breaker Alan Turing, and even conferring with Winston Churchill, the wide-cracking St. Florian is attempting to find what is believed to be a second copy of a rare book, which might have been used by the Germans as a "book code". He stays just barely a half step ahead of the SS while in France, and finally escaping back to England in one of the most imaginative escapes I've seen. A great story well told.
May 30, 2023
Entertaining, easy read. Some things could be brought out more in depth. A nice flow going from mission planning sessions to actual missions, back and forth. A British spy on an assignment to France and his exploits in World War II.
July 9, 2021
Another pretty insubstantial book, but a fun little diversion. I’m sure I’ll forget it completely in the next week, but I was entertained.
January 22, 2022
Basil is the spy who gets sent on “special missions”. Charismatic and very self assured he can penetrate deep into German territory. I will look forward to his next mission.
July 23, 2021
I enjoyed this for what it was. A short but exciting story. Full of good and subtle and not so subtle comedy. Somewhat ridiculous at times but in good fun.
A lighter read that goes quick and certainly worthwhile. It entertained me tremendously and that is what I wanted out of this!
A lighter read that goes quick and certainly worthwhile. It entertained me tremendously and that is what I wanted out of this!
December 15, 2021
Great book, quick read. Love the short story. The only draw back was the English storytelling.
June 1, 2021
Do you step outside of your favorite genre of fiction? If you have been following me, then you know that I get bored with series and books and often switch off authors, even my favorites. I like the variety in crime fiction. I love them all, police procedural and amateur detectives and domestic thriller and even crime fiction, with some horror elements. But I don’t usually stray from crime fiction, not so much out of lack of interest, mostly lack of time. I am constantly trying to catch up on reading the newest publications from my favorite authors and experimenting with reading new authors. Until this week. After reaching out to The Mysterious Press, I was given a stack of advanced reader copies. So exciting. One of those lovelies was Basil’s War by Stephen Hunter. Basil’s War slides easily into the category of espionage fiction with a definite nod to historical fiction and what a treat! I felt as if I had been dropped into World War II era Europe and I completely enjoyed the trip.
Basil’s War opens with Basil reluctantly leaving the bed of Vivien Lee to learn of a new mission. What we learn about Basil in these few short pages is that he has a fondness for women and rarely speaks the truth. We are quickly moved to a briefing where we begin to learn of Basil’s assignment. He is being called on by his country to extract photographs of a religious relic, a manuscript that doesn’t exist, whose words are being used to send codes, a Book code it is called, to the enemy. The manuscript lies in occupied France and our hero must find a way to sneak in, find the manuscript and sneak away without being detected because even the hint of a presence will signal the enemy to find a different text and thereby lengthening the war.
Stephen Hunter deposits us in mid World War II Europe and what a trip. I fell in love with his use of language. The feeling of Britain was not in the setting descriptions but the specific word choices and the exceptional use of humor (dry of course) and irony. I was thoroughly transported and did not want to venture back. The attention to military detail was informative and credible and the hero characterization was complete and understated. Basil was complex and that complexity was communicated in the language of the time in Britain, where spoken words carried an entirely different meaning and understanding than their dictionary definition. The narrative split, initially between the briefing about the mission and the action of the mission that morphed into a divergence between the execution of the mission and the perspective of the French and German authorities closing in on Basil as the mission is undertaken was effective in enticing readers to continue reading and setting an ever advancing plot. Basil’s War was a departure from crime fiction for me and an excellent escape. I will be reading others by this author. Bravo Mr. Hunter. Thank you for an excellent reading experience. Thank you Mysterious Press for the copy. Consider adding Basil’s War to your TBR pile, even if you prefer crime fiction.
Classification: Espionage fiction
Slow Boil: Action packed from page one
Literary: Especially in language, use of irony
Thriller: Definite thriller elements
Overall: 4.75
Basil’s War opens with Basil reluctantly leaving the bed of Vivien Lee to learn of a new mission. What we learn about Basil in these few short pages is that he has a fondness for women and rarely speaks the truth. We are quickly moved to a briefing where we begin to learn of Basil’s assignment. He is being called on by his country to extract photographs of a religious relic, a manuscript that doesn’t exist, whose words are being used to send codes, a Book code it is called, to the enemy. The manuscript lies in occupied France and our hero must find a way to sneak in, find the manuscript and sneak away without being detected because even the hint of a presence will signal the enemy to find a different text and thereby lengthening the war.
Stephen Hunter deposits us in mid World War II Europe and what a trip. I fell in love with his use of language. The feeling of Britain was not in the setting descriptions but the specific word choices and the exceptional use of humor (dry of course) and irony. I was thoroughly transported and did not want to venture back. The attention to military detail was informative and credible and the hero characterization was complete and understated. Basil was complex and that complexity was communicated in the language of the time in Britain, where spoken words carried an entirely different meaning and understanding than their dictionary definition. The narrative split, initially between the briefing about the mission and the action of the mission that morphed into a divergence between the execution of the mission and the perspective of the French and German authorities closing in on Basil as the mission is undertaken was effective in enticing readers to continue reading and setting an ever advancing plot. Basil’s War was a departure from crime fiction for me and an excellent escape. I will be reading others by this author. Bravo Mr. Hunter. Thank you for an excellent reading experience. Thank you Mysterious Press for the copy. Consider adding Basil’s War to your TBR pile, even if you prefer crime fiction.
Classification: Espionage fiction
Slow Boil: Action packed from page one
Literary: Especially in language, use of irony
Thriller: Definite thriller elements
Overall: 4.75
May 24, 2021
Didn't really like this one, and I'm not altogether sure why. My best guess is that I didn't find the protagonist particularly well-formed - he seemed a mish-mash of Wodehousian tics nail-gunned onto The Gentleman Rhymer. Also you never got the sense that he was in any real danger of being caught at any point in the story (even when he was, briefly, caught), which left the whole thing feeling a little flat.
Oh well, at least it was short.
Oh well, at least it was short.
March 13, 2021
Wow! I have read most of Stephen Hunter’s books from the very beginning, but I have not enjoyed one as much as this one—-the first of what I hope will be a series of books featuring Basil Florian— British adventurer, cad, spy,,and all around cool guy. This book is set during WWll and features cameos by real people including Churchill and Vivian Leigh. Its a short novel-which is a good thing-not bloated like many thrillers. Hunter is historically accurate but dozens teach but shows and the book moves fast leavened with humor and sex. And always intelligent. Read it and Mr. Hunter keep writing these!
May 17, 2021
This is the first historical fiction book from this author. i have read several of his series books and thought they were first rate. Basil's War is so different that I found it difficult to like the character or the action. The last pages of the book did bring it all to light but it took a while. I know if the author takes on more historical fiction writing he will improve and produce a magnificent product. I look forward to reading more. I think part of the issue for me was the stiff upper lip portrayal of the main character.
Basil St. Florian is an accomplished agent in the British Army, tasked with dozens of dangerous missions for crown and country across the globe. But his current mission, going undercover in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, might be his toughest assignment yet. He will be searching for an ecclesiastic manuscript that doesn’t officially exist, one that genius professor Alan Turing believes may hold the key to a code that could prevent the death of millions and possibly even end the war.
St. Florian isn’t the classic British special agent with a stiff upper lip—he is a swashbuckling, whisky-drinking cynic and thrill-seeker who resents having to leave Vivien Leigh’s bed to set out on his crucial mission. Despite these proclivities, though, Basil’s Army superiors know he’s the best man for the job, carrying out his espionage with enough charm and quick wit to make any of his subjects lower their guards.
Action-packed and bursting with WWII-era intrigue (much of which has basis in fact), Basil’s War is a classic espionage thriller from Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, essayist, and bestselling novelist Stephen Hunter.
Basil St. Florian is an accomplished agent in the British Army, tasked with dozens of dangerous missions for crown and country across the globe. But his current mission, going undercover in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, might be his toughest assignment yet. He will be searching for an ecclesiastic manuscript that doesn’t officially exist, one that genius professor Alan Turing believes may hold the key to a code that could prevent the death of millions and possibly even end the war.
St. Florian isn’t the classic British special agent with a stiff upper lip—he is a swashbuckling, whisky-drinking cynic and thrill-seeker who resents having to leave Vivien Leigh’s bed to set out on his crucial mission. Despite these proclivities, though, Basil’s Army superiors know he’s the best man for the job, carrying out his espionage with enough charm and quick wit to make any of his subjects lower their guards.
Action-packed and bursting with WWII-era intrigue (much of which has basis in fact), Basil’s War is a classic espionage thriller from Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, essayist, and bestselling novelist Stephen Hunter.
April 29, 2021
Basil St. Florian is a womanizer, enjoys a good drink and has a quick wit. He claims to have a boring desk job, but when the War Office has a mission that needs immediate action they call on Basil. His current mission is to enter occupied Paris and photograph the pages of a manuscript from 1789. While the original is in Cambridge, they can not access it. It is being used to encode messages to a Russian agent and they must crack the code without alerting the agent or his contact. An action in Russia by the Germans that could extend the war has been discovered and Stalin must be warned. He is distrustful and ignores communication from his allies. If the warning comes from his own agent he may take action. From the time that Basil departs for France the mission does not go as expected. Basil must use all of his skills and his ability to charm people if he is to complete the mission. Almost from the beginning the Germans are close on his heels, providing a tense chase.
Stephen Hunter alternates scenes of Basil’s mission with his briefings. Here he meets Alan Turing, who will be responsible for cracking the code. There are also brief appearances by Vivian Leigh and Lawrence Olivier. The action moves quickly and Basil’s escapades are full of surprises. With the war still raging, Hunter will hopefully have Basil return for further missions in the future. I would like to thank NetGalley and Mysterious Press for providing this book for my review.
Stephen Hunter alternates scenes of Basil’s mission with his briefings. Here he meets Alan Turing, who will be responsible for cracking the code. There are also brief appearances by Vivian Leigh and Lawrence Olivier. The action moves quickly and Basil’s escapades are full of surprises. With the war still raging, Hunter will hopefully have Basil return for further missions in the future. I would like to thank NetGalley and Mysterious Press for providing this book for my review.
February 23, 2021
A rake and a rogue, Basil the spy has his fun as he fights his way through WW II as a British spy. After reading most of the author’s books, I was surprised by the amount of silliness. But that’s probably what helped most people maintain some semblance of sanity. I received an advanced digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
June 15, 2021
I believe that I have read all of Hunter's books and can say that this is one of his best of the last 10 years. Some of his political stuff sneaks in here but it is not as noticeable as the most recent "Swagger" books. Because this book is so entertaining and short you can read it in its entirety in a few hours. I hope to see more books in this series.
August 2, 2021
Basil's War? More like Basil's Bore.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 240 reviews