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Len Deighton
*** Shopping-Tip: Len Deighton
Image:Len_Deighton_and_Michael_Caine_Ipcress_File.jpg thumb|Len Deighton (left) teaches Michael Caine how to break an egg on the set of ''[[The Ipcress File''.]]
'''Leonard Cyril Deighton''' (born
February 18,
1929,
Marylebone,
London) is a
United Kingdom British historian and
author of
spy fiction and
historical novels.
Several of his novels have been adapted as
films. His first four novels featured an anonymous anti-hero, named "
Harry Palmer" in the films, and portrayed by
Michael Caine. The first trilogy of his ''
Bernard Samson'' novel series was made into a twelve-part
television series by
Granada Television in
1988. He wrote the
screenplay for the
1969 film of the
play ''
Oh! What a Lovely War''. His
1970 World War II historical novel ''
Bomber (novel) Bomber'' about an
RAF Bomber Command raid over
Germany often is considered his masterpiece.
Deighton's interest in spy stories may have been partially inspired by his witnessing the arrest of
Anna Wolkoff, a British citizen of Russian descent who was a
Nazism Nazi spy, and charged with violating the
Official Secrets Act on
May 20,
1940.
In
1949 Deighton attended
St Martin's School of Art in
London, and in
1952 won a
scholarship to the
Royal College of Art, graduating in
1955. He then worked as an
flight attendant airline steward with
BOAC. Before he began his writing career he worked as an illustrator in
New York and, in
1960, as an art director in a
London advertising agency. He has since used his drawing skills to illustrate a number of his own
military history books.
Deighton also has published a series of cookery books and drew a weekly illustrated cooking guide in ''
The Observer'' newspaper.
To exploit the success of Deighton's first four "Harry Palmer" novels, he wrote ''
Len Deighton's London Dossier'' (
1967), a guide book to
Swinging Sixties London with a "secret agent" theme — contributions from other writers are described as "surveillance reports".
Selected bibliography
The ''Harry Palmer'' books:
* ''
The Ipcress File'' 1962
* ''
Horse Under Water'' 1963
* ''
Funeral in Berlin'' 1964
* ''
Billion Dollar Brain'' 1966
Image:Game Set And Match - Len Deighton - 1986 hardback book cover.jpg thumb|right|''Game, Set & Match'' — Deighton's novels, ''Berlin Game'', ''Mexico Set'' and ''London Match'', combined into one volume
The ''Bernard Samson'' Books:
* ''
Berlin Game'' 1983
* ''
Mexico Set'' 1984
* ''
London Match'' 1985
* ''
Spy Hook'' 1988
* ''
Spy Line'' 1989
* ''
Spy Sinker'' 1990
* ''
Faith (novel) Faith'' 1994
* ''
Hope (novel) Hope'' 1995
* ''
Charity (novel) Charity'' 1996
A prequel to the series, ''
Winter (novel) Winter'', was written in 1987.
Others:
* ''
An Expensive Place to Die'' 1967
* ''
Len Deighton's London Dossier'' 1967
* ''
Only When I Larf'' 1968
* ''
Bomber (novel) Bomber'' 1970
* ''Declarations of War'' short story collection, 1971
* ''
Close-Up'' 1972
* ''Spy Story'' 1974
* ''
Yesterday's Spy'' 1975
* ''
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Spy'' 1976
* ''
SS-GB'', 1978
* ''
XPD'' 1981
* ''
Goodbye, Mickey Mouse'' 1982
* ''
MAMista'' 1991
* ''
City of Gold'' 1992
* ''
Violent Ward'' 1993
History:
* ''
Fighter: The True Story of the Battle of Britain'' 1977
* ''
Airshipwreck'', with Arnold Schwartzman, 1978
* ''
Blitzkrieg: From the Rise of Hitler to the Fall of Dunkirk'' 1979
* ''
Battle of Britain'', with
Max Hastings, 1980 ISBN 0224018264
* ''
Blood, Tears and Folly: An Objective Look at World War II'' 1993
External links
-
Unofficial Len Deighton website
-
More information on LD
-
Another Len Deighton fan page
-
Harry Palmer movie fan page
Category:1929 births Deighton, Len
Category:Alternate history writers Deighton, Len
Category:British spy fiction writers Deighton, Len
Category:English novelists Deighton, Len
Category:English screenwriters Deighton, Len
Category:Historical novelists Deighton, Len
Category:Living people Deighton, Len
Category:Londoners Deighton, Len
Category:Military historians Deighton, Len
de:Len Deighton
*** Shopping-Tip: Len Deighton
