{"product_id":"2026200013048-secondhand-the-tightrope","title":"The Tightrope","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: Worn\/faded, no tears\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA life lived on the razor's edge between loyalty and betrayal, The Tightrope by Cecil Parrott is a gripping account drawn from the author's own remarkable experiences as a British diplomat behind the Iron Curtain. Set against the tense, shadowy world of Cold War-era Eastern Europe, the narrative chronicles Parrott's precarious balancing act between the demands of statecraft, personal integrity, and the ever-present threat of Soviet surveillance. With the precision of an insider and the storytelling instincts of a novelist, Parrott presents a world where every conversation is a calculated risk and every friendship a potential liability.\n\nBeyond its immediate drama, The Tightrope stands as a significant document of mid-twentieth-century diplomatic history, illuminating the psychological toll of living under constant scrutiny. Parrott — celebrated also as the definitive English translator of Jaroslav Hašek's The Good Soldier Švejk — brings a rare literary sensibility to his prose, rendering bureaucratic tension with the vividness of fiction. His style is measured yet deeply personal, weaving geopolitical consequence into the fabric of everyday life, leaving the reader to wonder just how long any man can walk a tightrope before the wire begins to sway.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49203275759835,"sku":"2026200013048-SECONDHAND","price":20.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/df0cf549-1f2c-41f6-8ede-f6559913b41a.png?v=1788147208","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200013048-secondhand-the-tightrope","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}