Horse Under Water
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.
Edition: First Edition
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Good , price clipped
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Boards - good. Binding - tight. Name penned on title page, otherwise clean text.
A taut and cerebral Cold War spy thriller, Horse Under Water follows Len Deighton's unnamed British intelligence agent — later identified as Bernard Samson in subsequent works — as he uncovers a dangerous web of intrigue centered on a sunken German U-boat off the coast of Portugal. The mission, ostensibly a salvage operation to retrieve counterfeit currency and wartime secrets, rapidly reveals layers of deception that reach deep into the corridors of power on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Deighton masterfully illustrates the murky moral landscape of 1960s espionage, where allies are unreliable, bureaucracies are treacherous, and the line between patriotism and corruption is razor-thin. Written with the author's signature blend of sardonic wit and meticulous procedural detail, the narrative presents a world of spycraft that feels bracingly authentic rather than glamorized. A landmark of the genre, it stands as essential reading for anyone who prizes intelligence fiction grounded in psychological realism over action-hero fantasy.
Author: Len Deighton
Format: Hardback
Published: 1963, Jonathan Cape
Edition: First Edition
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Good , price clipped
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Boards - good. Binding - tight. Name penned on title page, otherwise clean text.
A taut and cerebral Cold War spy thriller, Horse Under Water follows Len Deighton's unnamed British intelligence agent — later identified as Bernard Samson in subsequent works — as he uncovers a dangerous web of intrigue centered on a sunken German U-boat off the coast of Portugal. The mission, ostensibly a salvage operation to retrieve counterfeit currency and wartime secrets, rapidly reveals layers of deception that reach deep into the corridors of power on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Deighton masterfully illustrates the murky moral landscape of 1960s espionage, where allies are unreliable, bureaucracies are treacherous, and the line between patriotism and corruption is razor-thin. Written with the author's signature blend of sardonic wit and meticulous procedural detail, the narrative presents a world of spycraft that feels bracingly authentic rather than glamorized. A landmark of the genre, it stands as essential reading for anyone who prizes intelligence fiction grounded in psychological realism over action-hero fantasy.