Espionage Aficionados discussion

In the 1970s I used to read the British spy novels by Anthony Price. They are comparable with John Le Carré's work. They were out of print for a long time, but now I see Amazon has them online as eBooks. It was a long series, I think 19 books in total. He died in 2019, but it looks like he stopped writing in 1990.

As I said comparable with John Le Carré I should then compare them. The views expressed are a lot more British upper middle class than Le Carré. Although of course Le Carré's Smiley character is also upper middle class, Le Carré's own strange upbringing seems to have removed some of the class self-identification from his work. I can recommend starting the first book in the David Audley series, The Labyrinth Makers (1970).

Price has a good reputation in the genre. His books are all in our group bookshelf.

A few years ago there was no sign of his books on Amazon except for used paperback copies. I'm happy to see at least they are available as eBooks now. The publisher of these should think about using Amazon's KDP print-on-demand paperback service.

Kind of like how Alastair Maclean went out of print for a long time, but then Harper Collins did a major reissue a few years back. Maybe someone will “rediscover” Price as well

Well I just binged read all 19 in the late Anthony Price spy novel series. Oh, why doesn't some publisher make them a boxed set both as eBooks and paperbacks. I started reading them back in the mid-1970s when I was working on survey boats in South and Southeast Asia, buying them from Asia Books in Bangkok. So on some I have had a fifty year gap since reading the first time.

I think it's probably difficult for a non-Brit to understand the importance of the class system in the UK and how it affects the British post-war spy novels. I would love to add more in future posts on the comparison of say Flemming, Price, Deighton and Le Carré. Afraid I am now a publisher in Thailand and finding time isn't so easy.

I was lucky in that from 22 years of age to my late 40s I worked for American companies and also worked in Australia to get a different take on our class system. I think it will be easier to review them from outside of the UK.

Right now as break from UK spy novels I'm reading The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry, an American spy novel set in modern Bahrain, somewhere I spent a year in the early 1970s.