Jul 21, 2026
The novelist Graham Greene ranks at number 6 on Tim Shipman's infamous Best Spy Writers list — and yet we haven't given him enough airtime on the podcast. Time to put that right.
Graham Greene didn't just write about spies — spying was the family business. His uncle founded Naval Intelligence. His sister recruited him into SIS. And Greene himself walked out of the Service the day before D-Day. Why? The answer may involve his boss and drinking companion: Kim Philby.
Guest host Matt Hurst debriefs Professor Kevin Ruane — Greene scholar and Director of the Graham Greene International Festival — on the novelist's secret double life.
In this episode:
- The Greene family spy business: an uncle in Naval Intelligence, a sister in SIS, a brother running black ops in Malaya, and another spying for three countries at once (badly)
- Why Greene quit SIS on the eve of D-Day — and the Philby theory
- "Recreational espionage": how Greene's letters reveal decades of meetings with "the old firm" before trips to Vienna, Cuba, Poland and Vietnam
- The Quiet American: the 1955 novel that predicted the Vietnam War, and why journalists like David Halberstam and Neil Sheehan carried it in their knapsacks
- Was Greene spying in Vietnam? The "Catholic solution" and the hunt for a third force
- The 1958 film Greene called a travesty — and his fan letter to Sean Connery for a remake that never happened
- Greene vs le Carré: the endorsement that made le Carré's name, and the letter that said "you're not my friend"
- Why Greene would love Slow Horses
This is the first of what we hope will be many episodes exploring the great spy novelists — subscribe to Spybrary so you don't miss what's coming.
The Graham Greene International Festival runs 24-27 September in Berkhamsted, UK — 30 minutes from London Euston. Spy highlights include Ben Brown's play A Splinter of Ice, Robert Verkaik on The Writer and the Traitor, and le Carré biographer Adam Sisman on Greene and le Carré. Tickets at grahamgreenebt.org
All links at spybrary.com/306