{"product_id":"our-man-down-in-havana-the-story-behind-graham-greenes-cold-war-spy-novel-9781643130187","title":"Our Man Down in Havana: The Story Behind Graham Greene's Cold War Spy Novel","description":"\u003cb\u003eExploring the backstory that led to the writing of Graham Greene's beloved satirical spy novel, \u003ci\u003e Our Man Down in Havana \u003c\/i\u003eevokes this pivotal time and place in the author's life.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen U.S. immigration authorities deported Graham Greene from Puerto Rico in 1954, the British author made an unplanned visit to Havana and the former MI6 officer had stumbled upon the ideal setting for a comic espionage story. Three years later, he returned in the midst of Castro's guerrilla insurgency against a U.S.-backed dictator to begin writing his iconic novel \u003ci\u003eOur Man in Havana\u003c\/i\u003e. Twelve weeks after its publication, in January 1959, the Cuban Revolution triumphed, soon transforming a capitalist playground into a communist stronghold. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Combining biography, history, politics, and a measure of psychoanalysis, \u003ci\u003eOur Man Down in Havana\u003c\/i\u003e investigates the real story behind Greene's fiction. It includes his many visits to a pleasure island that became a revolutionary island, turning his chance involvement into a political commitment. His Cuban novel describes an amateur agent who dupes his intelligence chiefs with invented reports about \"concrete platforms and unidentifiable pieces of giant machinery.\" With eerie prescience, Greene's satirical tale had foretold the Cold War's most perilous episode, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Exploiting a wealth of archival material and interviews with key protagonists, \u003ci\u003eOur Man Down in Havana\u003c\/i\u003e delves into the story behind and beyond the author's prophetic Cuban tale, focusing on one slice of Greene's manic life: a single novel and its complex history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Pegasus Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/05\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781643130187\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.15lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.20h x 6.10w x 1.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2019 pg. 88\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/01\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/08\/2019\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Christopher Hull","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43040302629045,"sku":"9781643130187","price":23.76,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_fbd4c751-ef43-43df-b7cf-57aeb32b3f0e.jpg?v=1689089065","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/our-man-down-in-havana-the-story-behind-graham-greenes-cold-war-spy-novel-9781643130187","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}