Over the coming year, digest the best writing on espionage, past and present, both fictive and factual. We are pretty well placed to advise. Mayfair has long been a haunt of spies, as has our shop. John le Carré signaled this fact when featuring Heywood Hill in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. For over 30 years MI5 was on Curzon Street, and the CIA were not far away until quite recently. Veteran spooks of many nationalities still call in from time to time. 

We asked William Boyd to sum up the genre’s appeal. He writes, ‘At the core of the serious spy novel lie wonderfully rich concepts – identity, betrayal, duplicity, mendacity – all perfect grist to the novelist’s mill. These concepts – these abstract nouns – all figure to a significant degree in our own lives but, set them in the context of espionage, and they suddenly take on a new import, new heft.  What the spy novel does, it seems to me, is that while seeming to treat a rarified and, by definition, secret and unknown world, it actually trades in values and emotions and complexities of human behaviour that we all understand, instinctively and immediately. Who among us has not lied or betrayed someone, or has been betrayed in turn or has been lied to; who has not changed or modified their identity, or aspects of their identity, subtly or significantly, for an hour or a week, to gain special advantage?  The methods and textures, the world and ways of the spy are, surprisingly, very close to our own lives. In some aspects, it could be argued, the world of the spy novel may be the best analogue of the human condition, writ large.’ Quite. 

Tradecraft is our homage not just to le Carré and Boyd but to all those writers who have mastered the form, past and present. Subscribers will receive six parcels throughout the year, beautifully gift-wrapped in our trademark livery of brown paper and blue ribbon. Each package will contain two books: one classic in paperback and one much newer title in hardback. The idea is that each pair will provide a satisfying contrast as you discover this fascinating genre throughout the year.    

• Please note that postage is not included in the cost of the subscription and it will be added at checkout.
• If your recipient lives in Canada or Switzerland please get in touch with our team at enquires@heywoodhill.com for a specific postage cost.
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