Slightly different to most of the other entries on this list, Graham Greene's 1958 novel "Our Man in Havana" brilliantly satirises the whole espionage genre - and pokes fun at intelligence agencies, most-particularly MI6, and their willingness to believe any report given to them by a local informant. Greene, a former MI6 agent in Portugal during World War I, drew upon his own experiences to create a black comedy set in Havana during the Fulgencio Batista regime. Close-to-bankrupt vacuum-cleaner retailer James Wormold is approached by the British secret service to work as an informant - and he duly accepts the offer, filing fake reports to gain some cash. However, these reports begin to come true and Wormold is soon thrust into a world of underground Havana that he didn't even know existed. Frighteningly similar to the events that subsequently unfolded during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, this book is as amusing and enlightening as it is exciting - and it was made into a 1959 film by director Carol Reed. Although making fun of its very own genre, this book is one all spy-book fans should experience.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.