“A charming curiosity….[The Spy’s Bedside Book] serves not simply as a companion to espionage fiction, but as a kind of spy’s how-to, right down to tips on secreting messages in boiled eggs and how to disguise maps in diagrams of butterfly wings (thanks to Sir Robert Baden-Powell, who actually did that).”—Los Angeles Times
“This compendium of memoir, fiction, aphorism and historical accounts of espionage through the centuries is the literary equivalent of a triple agent at a dead drop: You never know what you’ll get, but it’s always intriguing.”–News & Observer, Raleigh“
Many of the early masters of spy fiction—from John Buchan to Ian Fleming—are represented in this quirky anthology, along with surprise guests, including W.H. Auden and Colette.”—Wall Street Journal