Legacy

by Alan Judd

Book Overview

From award-winning author Alan Judd comes a gripping espionage novel set during the height of the Cold War. Capturing the tenor of 1970s London with assuredness on par with that of the genre's greats,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375414843
• ISBN13: 9780375414848
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 245 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.6" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Cold War sply novel in Le Carre mode

We are in John le Carre territory in this Cold War spy story set in 1970s London. Charles Thoroughgood, whose name describes his character, has left the British army and joined the Secret Service as a trainee. By coincidence, a Russian acquaintance from university days shows up as a Soviet diplomat with a weakness for a particular London postitute. Charles is taken out of his training course and told to approach his former classmate. When he does so, the Russian turns the tables on him by revealing that Charles's own father, now deceased, was a long-standing Soviet agent. There is lots of interesting tradecraft in this novel. The author clearly knows what he's talking about. Also, we meet some quirky British characters in the best tradition of the cast of eccentrics created by le Carre. Judd differs from le Carre in that he sees no more equivalence between the British and the Soviets. Whereas Le Carre regards his characters as players in a game in which both sides observe the same rules more or less, Judd has no such scruples. He clearly sees the Brits as morally superior and the Soviets as utterly evil. There are some surprises in this book which are not altogether surprising and the depiction of England circa 1970 seems more like the 1950s to me than the actual England I remember. Judd clearly brings out the upper class nature of the secret service, still the realm of public school boys and a few women from the "right" families and universities. His women are not convincing and the subject of sexual desire is handled as if it were an embarrassing social faux pas. Still this is an entertaining and interesting book.