20 Greatest Spy Books Ever Written

James Bond, Jason Bourne, Jack Ryan - these are just three of the classic spies who have graced the big screen and thrilled film audiences for decades. Yet - such is so often the case with a large proportion of these characters - they were, first and foremost, actually the protagonists of classic espionage novels before they were made into big-screen personas. It is not just the lead character that makes a spy novel great, however, because there are a series of elements that make for a classic espionage story. Having largely emerged as a genre in the 20th Century - although, as you will see, there are a handful of pre-1900 classics - the spy novel plays on the intrigue of rivalry between world superpowers and their desire to gain an advantage over the other. Undoubtedly given added impetus with the emergence of fascism and Nazism before then being given a real shot in the arm by the Cold War, the genre deals with espionage, criminal organisations, terrorism, anarchism, murder, romance and intrigue. Masters of the spy-fiction genre include Ian Fleming, John le Carré, Graham Greene and Robert Ludlum - and they have helped to create some of the most-intriguing and exciting page turners in history, as well as some of fiction's most-recognisable characters. But which books are particular "classics" in this genre? Well, here are the 20 greatest spy books ever written - so make sure you take note of any you're yet to sample and then get reading...