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An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris – book cover

An Officer and a Spy: A novel

By Robert Harris

A whistle-blower. A witch hunt. A cover-up. Secret tribunals, out-of-control intelligence agencies, and government corruption. Welcome to 1890s Paris • From Robert Harris, the bestselling author of Conclave NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Winner of the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction…

Release Date
2014
Length
442 pages
Publisher
Vintage
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Our Review

A whistle-blower. A witch hunt. A cover-up. Secret tribunals, out-of-control intelligence agencies, and government corruption. Welcome to 1890s Paris • From Robert Harris, the bestselling author of Conclave NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Winner of the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction • Winner of the American Library in Paris Book Award Alfred Dreyfus has been convicted of treason, sentenced to life imprisonment on a far-off island, and publicly stripped of his rank. Among the witnesses to his humiliation is Georges Picquart, an ambitious military officer who believes in Dreyfus's guilt as staunchly as any member of the public. But when he is promoted to head of the French counter-espionage agency, Picquart finds evidence that a spy still remains at large in the military—indicating that Dreyfus is innocent. As evidence of the most malignant deceit mounts and spirals inexorably toward the uppermost levels of government, Picquart is compelled to question not only the case against Dreyfus but also his most deeply held beliefs about his country, and about himself.

Author

Robert Harris