The Quiet American: Discover Graham Green’s prescient political masterpiece

Graham Greene

Oct 2010 · Random House

About this ebook

'The novel that I love the most is The Quiet American' Ian McEwan, Sunday Times bestselling author of Lessons

Into the intrigue and violence of 1950s Saigon comes CIA agent Alden Pyle, a young idealistic American sent to promote democracy through a mysterious 'Third Force'.

As Pyle's naive optimism starts to cause bloodshed, his friend Fowler, a cynical foreign correspondent, finds it hard to stand aside and watch. But even as Fowler intervenes he wonders why: for the greater good, or something altogether more complicated?

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ZADIE SMITH

**One of the BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**

About the author

Graham Greene was born in 1904. He worked as a journalist and critic, and in 1940 became literary editor of the Spectator. He was later employed by the Foreign Office. As well as his many novels, Graham Greene wrote several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, three books of autobiography, two of biography and four books for children. He also wrote hundreds of essays, and film and book reviews. Graham Greene was a member of the Order of Merit and a Companion of Honour. He died in April 1991.