The Human Factor
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: No markings
A masterwork of Cold War espionage fiction, The Human Factor chronicles the quiet unraveling of Maurice Castle, a low-level British intelligence officer whose double life conceals a profound act of loyalty born not from ideology, but from love. Greene constructs a morally complex thriller that argues the most dangerous secrets are not political ones, but personal ones — the kind rooted in gratitude, devotion, and the desperate need to protect those we hold dear. Written with Greene's signature understated tension, the novel presents a world of grey bureaucratic corridors and shadowy allegiances where no one is entirely innocent and no institution is entirely trustworthy. The narrative uncovers the tragic cost of operating with a conscience in a profession that demands its absence, illustrating how ordinary human emotion becomes the ultimate vulnerability in the machinery of espionage. Widely regarded as one of Greene's finest late-career achievements, it stands as a deeply humane and quietly devastating portrait of a man caught between duty and the irreducible claims of the heart.
Author: Graham Greene
Format: Hardback
Published: 1978, Book Club Associates London
Genre: Cold war & espionage
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: No markings
A masterwork of Cold War espionage fiction, The Human Factor chronicles the quiet unraveling of Maurice Castle, a low-level British intelligence officer whose double life conceals a profound act of loyalty born not from ideology, but from love. Greene constructs a morally complex thriller that argues the most dangerous secrets are not political ones, but personal ones — the kind rooted in gratitude, devotion, and the desperate need to protect those we hold dear. Written with Greene's signature understated tension, the novel presents a world of grey bureaucratic corridors and shadowy allegiances where no one is entirely innocent and no institution is entirely trustworthy. The narrative uncovers the tragic cost of operating with a conscience in a profession that demands its absence, illustrating how ordinary human emotion becomes the ultimate vulnerability in the machinery of espionage. Widely regarded as one of Greene's finest late-career achievements, it stands as a deeply humane and quietly devastating portrait of a man caught between duty and the irreducible claims of the heart.