XPD
Published on 28. October 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-0-241-50556-4 (ISBN)
Description
'A stunning spy story ... incomparable' Guardian
It is the most dangerous secret of the Second World War, one that could destroy Britain's reputation forever. In 1940, a clandestine meeting took place between Churchill and Adolf Hitler. All records of it have been hidden, and anyone who discovers the truth dies - their file stamped XPD; Expedient Demise. But now what was buried is threatening to come to light, and SIS agent Boyd Stuart must stop it falling into the wrong hands, no matter how high the price.
'Deliciously sharp and flawlessly accurate dialogue, breathtakingly clever plotting ... a splendidly strongly told story' The Times
It is the most dangerous secret of the Second World War, one that could destroy Britain's reputation forever. In 1940, a clandestine meeting took place between Churchill and Adolf Hitler. All records of it have been hidden, and anyone who discovers the truth dies - their file stamped XPD; Expedient Demise. But now what was buried is threatening to come to light, and SIS agent Boyd Stuart must stop it falling into the wrong hands, no matter how high the price.
'Deliciously sharp and flawlessly accurate dialogue, breathtakingly clever plotting ... a splendidly strongly told story' The Times
Reviews / Votes
A stunning spy story ... Deighton remains the incomparable entertainer. * The Guardian * Exciting and well made. * Daily Telegraph * Deliciously sharp and flawlessly accurate dialogue, breathtakingly clever plotting, confident character drawing ... a splendidly strongly told story. * The Times * The poet of the spy story. * Sunday Times *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
292 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-50556-4 (9780241505564)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Len Deighton was born in 1929 in London. He did his national service in the RAF, went to the Royal College of Art and designed many book jackets, including the original UK edition of Jack Kerouac's On the Road. The enormous success of his first spy novel, The IPCRESS File (1962), was repeated in a remarkable sequence of books over the following decades. These varied from historical fiction (Bomber, perhaps his greatest novel) to dystopian alternative fiction (SS-GB) and a number of brilliant non-fiction books on the Second World War (Fighter, Blitzkrieg and Blood, Tears and Folly).
His spy novels chart the twists and turns of Britain and the Cold War in ways which now give them a unique flavour. They preserve a world in which Europe contains many dictatorships, in which the personal can be ruined by the ideological and where the horrors of the Second World War are buried under only a very thin layer of soil. Deighton's fascination with technology, his sense of humour and his brilliant evocation of time and place make him one of the key British espionage writers, alongside John Buchan, Eric Ambler, Ian Fleming and John Le Carre.
His spy novels chart the twists and turns of Britain and the Cold War in ways which now give them a unique flavour. They preserve a world in which Europe contains many dictatorships, in which the personal can be ruined by the ideological and where the horrors of the Second World War are buried under only a very thin layer of soil. Deighton's fascination with technology, his sense of humour and his brilliant evocation of time and place make him one of the key British espionage writers, alongside John Buchan, Eric Ambler, Ian Fleming and John Le Carre.