An Officer and a Spy

Author(s): Robert Harris

Fiction - Crime/Thriller

IN THE HUNT FOR A SPY, HE EXPOSED A CONSPIRACY***Winner of the 2014 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction*** Paris, 1895- an army officer, Georges Picquart, watches a convicted spy, Alfred Dreyfus, being publicly humiliated in front of a baying crowd.Dreyfus is exiled for life to Devil's Island; Picquart is promoted to run the intelligence unit that tracked him down.But when Picquart discovers that secrets are still being handed over to the Germans, he is drawn into a dangerous labyrinth of deceit and corruption that threatens not just his honour but his life...A breathtaking historical spy thriller from Robert Harris, author of Munich, Conclaveand the acclaimed Cicero trilogy

This is a new and brilliantly told account of the infamous Dreyfus Affair that so gripped Paris in the latter part of the 1800s. Told from the perspective of Georges Picquart, the investigating officer and the man who eventually secures Dreyfus's release from solitary confinement, four years after having been wrongly convicted of spying. It is horrifying to see the level of hatred for Jews, not only in the Parisian on the street, but, more importantly in this case, in the hierarchy of the army. Interestingly, every named character in the book was a real life player in one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in history. A very important read. - Lucy


Product Information

What part did I play in his ruin? That is the question that came to haunt me ...

Winner of CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2014.

"The fact that this novel is seriously riveting is a testament to Robert Harris's storytelling power; he conjures knuckle-blanching suspense from a very well-known piece of history." -- BOOKS OF THE YEAR The Times "Harris' retelling of the Dreyfus case is as taut and exciting as anything by Forsyth or Follet." -- BOOKS OF THE YEAR Guardian "Menace and suspense twist tight in a narrative of tremendous tension." -- BOOKS OF THE YEAR Sunday Times "Superb ... Harris demonstrates his unique ability to recreate historical events and turn them into spellbinding thriller ... Written with scalpel-like precision and the elegance we expect of Harris, there is a passion here that justifies calling it a masterpiece." -- BOOKS OF THE YEAR Daily Mail "A brilliant retelling of a scandal that became one of the most famous miscarriages of justice ... the most gripping book I've read this year." -- BOOKS OF THE YEAR Mail on Sunday

Robert Harris is the author of eight bestselling novels: Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, Imperium, The Ghost, Lustrum and The Fear Index. Several of his books have been filmed, including The Ghost, which was directed by Roman Polanski. His work has been translated into thirty-seven languages. He lives in the village of Kintbury, West Berkshire, with his wife Gill Hornby.

General Fields

  • : 9780099580881
  • : Arrow Books
  • : Arrow Books
  • : 0.426
  • : February 2014
  • : 198mm X 129mm
  • : June 2014
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Robert Harris
  • : Paperback
  • : 1406
  • : English
  • : 823/.914
  • : very good
  • : 624