War & Conflict

Narratives shaped by conflict, survival, and the human cost of war.

All countries Afghanistan Algeria Armenia Bangladesh Benin Bosnia and Herzegovina Cambodia Canada China Congo, Democratic Republic Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Croatia Cyprus Ethiopia France Germany Greece Indonesia Iraq Japan Kenya Lebanon Malaysia Mexico Myanmar Netherlands Nigeria North Korea Pakistan Palestine Russia Rwanda Senegal South Korea Sri Lanka Syria Tanzania Türkiye Ukraine United Kingdom United States Vietnam Yemen

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Icarus 17

Charles Cumming

Max Radinsky believes he has found the perfect life in Athens, Greece, until his girlfriend, Yasmine, is forced to flee the city. Joining her on the run, Max becomes caught in a dangerous international pursuit. Neither is trained for espionage, and as rival intelligence agencies close in, their desperate journey across Greece turns into a fight for survival. Meanwhile, Lachlan Kite, head of the covert intelligence service BOX 88, receives an unexpected plea for help from Martha Raine, a former lover he has not seen in more than twenty years. Her son Max has disappeared, and Kite finds himself drawn back into fieldwork to locate the young couple. What he uncovers is far more dangerous than a missing-person case: Yasmine holds a secret that could destabilise the Middle East for a generation, and Israeli intelligence operatives have orders to kill her on sight. The fourth novel in Cumming’s BOX 88 series, Icarus 17 combines a high-stakes international chase with the personal consequences of a spy’s past. Moving between Greece and the world of covert intelligence, it explores loyalty, betrayal, and the devastating cost of secrets that powerful institutions will do anything to protect.

Greece United Kingdom 2026

Dawn of the Firebird

Dawn of the Firebird

Sarah Mughal Rana

Magic is fading. Kingdoms are at war. And a young woman raised to serve an emperor must decide whether revenge is worth the price of her soul. Khamilla Zahr-zad has watched every home she has known destroyed by violence. The discarded daughter of an emperor, she grows up among her mother’s nomadic tribe until a brutal raid awakens nur—a mysterious heavenly magic that gives her the power to wield cosmic light. Finally accepted by her father’s court, she trains in combat and poisons, believing loyalty and vengeance will give her life meaning. But when a rival empire destroys her clan, Khamilla’s world collapses once more. Hiding her identity, she infiltrates the enemy’s military academy, where she studies martial arts, magic, and the dangerous knowledge needed to bring down an empire. As she uncovers truths that contradict everything her father taught her, she begins to question whether the history she has inherited is as righteous as she once believed. Blending epic battles, Islamic-inspired mythology, jinn, and morally complex characters, Dawn of the Firebird explores the devastating cost of war and the struggle between vengeance and freedom.

United Kingdom 2025

Trespasses

In 1970s Northern Ireland, as the Troubles bring violence and fear to everyday life, Cushla Lavery tries to build a future beyond the narrow confines of her small Catholic community. She teaches young children at a parochial school and helps run her family’s pub, all while caring for her troubled mother. One evening, she meets Michael Agnew, an older, married Protestant barrister known for defending IRA members. Despite the religious divisions and social dangers surrounding them, Cushla begins a passionate affair with him. But their private relationship unfolds against a landscape where loyalties are fiercely policed and even the smallest actions can have devastating consequences. When a young pupil’s father is brutally attacked, Cushla becomes caught in a chain of events that threatens the people she loves. Tender and unflinching, Trespasses explores forbidden love, sectarian hatred, and the impossible choices faced by ordinary people living through extraordinary violence.

United Kingdom 2022

Berlin Game

During the Cold War, British intelligence officer Bernard Samson is accustomed to being overlooked. Now working behind a desk in London after years in the field, he is unexpectedly called back into action when one of Britain’s most valuable agents in East Berlin requests urgent extraction. Known by the codename “Brahms Four,” the agent believes a Soviet mole has infiltrated the highest levels of British intelligence—and that his own life is in immediate danger. Sent to Berlin, Samson must navigate a labyrinth of double agents, conflicting loyalties, and carefully concealed secrets. His mission is complicated by the suspicion that the betrayal may come from someone within his own professional circle. Meanwhile, his relationship with his ambitious wife, Fiona, who is rising through the intelligence service while his own career stagnates, adds another layer of uncertainty to his already precarious position. The first novel in Len Deighton’s acclaimed Game, Set and Match trilogy, Berlin Game combines intricate espionage plotting with a sharp portrait of the people behind intelligence operations. Set in a divided Europe where trust is a dangerous luxury, it explores betrayal, professional rivalry, and the personal costs of a life built around secrets.

Germany United Kingdom 1983

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

At the height of the Cold War, British intelligence is facing a devastating crisis. A covert operation in Czechoslovakia has gone disastrously wrong, forcing the head of the Secret Intelligence Service, known as Control, into retirement. But before his departure, Control becomes convinced that a Soviet mole has infiltrated the highest levels of British intelligence, secretly feeding classified information to Moscow. George Smiley, Control’s quiet, methodical former deputy, is brought back from retirement to investigate. Working in secret, he begins examining the service’s senior officers, each of whom has a codename from a childhood rhyme: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, and others. As Smiley reconstructs past operations and follows a trail of carefully concealed evidence, he must determine which of his former colleagues has betrayed the organisation from within. Set in the shadowy world of Cold War London, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a masterful espionage novel about deception, institutional loyalty, and the corrosive effects of suspicion. Rather than relying on spectacular action, John le Carré builds tension through quiet conversations, fragmented memories, and psychological insight, revealing a world where the greatest threat may be the person sitting beside you.

Russia United Kingdom 1974

The Day of the Jackal

The Day of the Jackal

Frederick Forsyth

France, 1963. Following repeated attempts to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle, a militant organisation determined to overthrow him hires a professional killer known only by his codename: the Jackal. Brilliant, meticulous, and almost impossible to identify, the assassin begins preparing an elaborate plan to kill the French president. He obtains false identities, arranges specialised equipment, and carefully studies the security measures surrounding his target. When French intelligence discovers the conspiracy, the authorities launch a desperate hunt for the unknown assassin. Commissaire Claude Lebel, a methodical detective with an exceptional ability to follow small clues, is assigned to lead the investigation. As the Jackal moves closer to his target, Lebel must navigate political pressure, bureaucratic obstacles, and a trail of deception stretching across Europe. Combining painstaking procedural detail with relentless suspense, The Day of the Jackal explores the deadly intersection of political extremism, state security, and individual ambition. Frederick Forsyth transforms a fictional assassination plot into a gripping contest between two professionals, each determined to outwit the other before time runs out.

France United Kingdom 1971

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

Alec Leamas is a weary British intelligence officer stationed in Berlin during the Cold War. After watching his network of agents collapse, he is ready to leave the dangerous world of espionage behind. But his superior, known as Control, offers him one final assignment: pretend to defect to East Germany and help destroy a powerful figure within the East German intelligence service. To make the deception convincing, Leamas must appear disillusioned, financially desperate, and willing to betray his country. As he becomes entangled in a carefully constructed web of lies, Leamas discovers that the boundaries between truth and deception are far less clear than he imagined. His growing relationship with Liz Gold, a young British communist, complicates his mission and forces him to confront the human cost of a world in which people are treated as expendable pieces in a political game. Set against the bleak backdrop of divided Berlin, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold strips espionage of its glamour, revealing a world shaped by moral compromise, manipulation, and betrayal. John le Carré’s landmark novel challenges the idea that intelligence work serves an uncomplicated good, asking what remains of personal conscience when loyalty to the state demands sacrificing everything else.

Germany United Kingdom 1963

About this theme

Books: 7
Countries: 43

Countries with this theme

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Congo, Democratic Republic

Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)