The Book of Spies : An Anthology of Literary Espionage (Modern Library Classics) -- by Alan Furst (Editor)
Furst, one of our best modern espionage writers (Kingdom of Shadows), brings together selections from the work of some of the genre's founders and a few of its most celebrated practitioners. This being a Modern Library edition, the emphasis is on the literary side of spy fiction, so it's no surprise to find work by everybody's highbrow division Big Three--Conrad, Greene, and le Carre-- but even with the obvious authors, Furst shows some spirit in his selections. With le Carre, for example, we don't get the expected Smiley moment but, instead, are offered the marvelous opening from the less-known but superb Russia House. Furst is very good, both in his introduction and in the blurbs that precede each selection, at pinpointing the influence on the genre of the various authors, especially such pioneers as Eric Ambler and W. Somerset Maugham, whose Ashenden, excerpted here, is often considered to have paved the way for the disenchanted spies of Greene and others. A superior anthology for anyone interested in the roots of espionage fiction. Bill Ott, From Booklist.