An Officer and a Spy

A Novel

By: Robert Harris

Narrated by: David Rintoul

Length: 16 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Robert Harris returns to the thrilling historical fiction he has so brilliantly made his own. This is the story of the infamous Dreyfus affair told as a chillingly dark, hard-edged novel of conspiracy and espionage.

Paris in 1895: Alfred Dreyfus, a young Jewish officer, has just been convicted of treason, sentenced to life imprisonment at Devil's Island, and stripped of his rank in front of a baying crowd of 20,000. Among the witnesses to his humiliation is Georges Picquart, the ambitious, intellectual, recently promoted head of the counterespionage agency that Dreyfus had passed secrets to the Germans. At first, Picquart firmly believes in Dreyfus' guilt. But it is not long after Dreyfus is delivered to his desolate prison that Picquart stumbles on information that leads him to suspect that there is still a spy at large in the French military. 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.

Bringing to life the scandal that mesmerized the world at the turn of the 20th century, Robert Harris tells a tale of uncanny timeliness - a witch hunt, secret tribunals, out-of-control intelligence agencies, the fate of a whistle-blower - richly dramatized with the singular storytelling mastery that has marked all of his internationally best-selling novels.

©2014 Robert Harris (P)2014 Random Hosue Audio

Le Carré like

The story marched along. The reading is quite good. It engaged me enough to pretty much listen straight through. I generally jump between podcasts, radio, and audiobooks, but for the most part I listened straight through for a week.

Very similar to a Smiley story, but for some reason the main character did not grab hold of me quite like George.

Enjoyed this one more than some of his other books.

I would recommend it if you like Le Carré

An Extraordinary Portrayal of An Extraordinary Event

Robert Harris is a novelist with exceptional writing skills, the intellect to handle complex historical events and a keen dramatic flair. All are on display in An Officer and a Spy and are necessary to effectively tackle The Dreyfus Affair. Brilliantly developing George Picquart, who played a central role in wresting Alfred Dreyfus from oblivion, Harris creates a fascinating multi-dimensional interpretation of an event that changed the course of French history — and has much relevance today. And the narrator, David Rintoul handles the array of characters and the story’s flow with aplomb. That most rare of reads — intellectually stimulating, educational and entertaining.

Spellbinding

In spite of the many different French army officers names to keep track of, I found this audio book hard to put down. The Dreyfus Affair was an infamous blot in French history. Robert Harris brought his masterful storytelling to describe in depth what happens to truth tellers in the military. The time period was the 1890’s. Alfred Dreyfus , a Jew, was a minor officer in the French military accused and convicted of spying. He was court martialed and imprisoned on Devils island. This is the story of the courageous Colonel Picard who discovered his innocence and was persecuted for his efforts.

Stellar Historical Fiction, a Page Turner

Robert Harris has brought The Dreyfus affair to life, embellished by a rich cast of believable characters living and loving in picturesque Paris in the late 1800s. And whether one knows the outcome of the trials or not, the author keeps the tension high throughout until the story is too soon over and one wishes for more. Further, the wonderfully accented reader skillfully differentiates between the characters which helps overcome their less familiar French names. A brilliant choice!

Outstanding!

Would you consider the audio edition of An Officer and a Spy to be better than the print version?

Yes, because the reader was so excellent and has a fine command of accents and French pronunciation

Who was your favorite character and why?

Picquart. Because he did his duty.

Which character – as performed by David Rintoul – was your favorite?

Picquart

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

J'accuse ...!

Top Notch Historical Fiction

Any additional comments?

For me, the best authors of historical fiction teach history without their readers knowing it. How? By making the facts come alive - by humanizing history. An engrossed reader comes away with a broader perspective of the world's events AND a good story.

An Officer and a Spy delivers on all accounts. And I must say I'm somewhat perplexed by a few of the negative reviews - I thought the book was excellent. It is the true story of Alfred Dreyfus, a French artillery man of German and Jewish descent, who is falsely accused and found guilty of treason - all of which remains today an unfortunate example of political injustice, aided largely by the court of public opinion. The story is suspenseful, engaging, emotional, and ultimately redemptive. A great listen for any audience - highly recommended.

Good but not his best

I am a huge fan of Robert Harris--Fatherland and Ghost Writer among my all-time favorite books--and downloaded this book as soon as i read about it. In my opinion, this one falls a tad short of the high standards Harris has previously set. Having said that, i did learn a great deal about the history of the Dreyfus affair, which involved a series of disgraceful coverups, lies, and extensive corruption in the French military and some of the politicians of the time.

A quick recap: Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French military, was wrongfully convicted of leaking secrets to the Germans in the mid-1890s. He was subsequently stripped of his rank and military honors and thrown into prison for life. The fact that he was Jewish clearly added to the military's rush to conviction. When protagonist and fellow officer Georges Picquart found evidence that would prove Dreyfus' innocence, he went to great lengths and enormous personal hardship (including his own imprisonment) to set the record straight.

However it was difficult for me to feel much empathy for, nor particularly like any of the characters until probably halfway through the listen (though in truth many of the characters are just plain unlikable, including Dreyfus himself). As a result i struggled to care much about what was happening in the earlier parts and found my mind wondering off at times. It wasn't until well into the story when Picquart began to defy his superiors' orders in favor of following his own moral/ethical code of conduct that i finally became absorbed in the story. And while i never felt much love for any of the characters, the various outrageous behaviors of so many powerful people and the utter wrongness of their actions made me care enormously about how the story ended--I so totally wanted to see the wrongs made right and good prevail over evil.

Overall it is a fascinating piece of history and i would have given the story itself three and a half stars if that were an option. It is a good listen, and i recommend it, in spite of the above caveats. Plus David Rintoul is a superb narrator!

A long and painful journey

An Officer and a Spy begins with the public humiliation and imprisonment of Alfred Dreyfus and the appointment of Georges Picquart, the main character in the book, as the new head of French military intelligence. As Colonel Picquart assumes his duties and learns about how the unit works he finds evidence that Dreyfus was wrongly accused and that the evidence actually points to another serving officer. As the evidence in favor of Dreyfus continues to pile up Colonel Picquart increasingly tries to convince his superiors in the military that the true traitor must be arrested and Dreyfus must be exonerated and freed, but is told that the case is settled and there is nothing that can or should be done. The book is, of course, a novel and it is impossible for the reader to know how which of Colonel Picquart’s actions are accurately represented and which are the author’s constructs, but the picture of the French military in general and the intelligence section in particular is ugly indeed.

For me, two things were striking about Mr Harris’ exploration of the Dreyfus Affair. The first is that the story reads like a bad spy novel in the sense that high officers of the French Army are actively working to both suppress evidence and forge documents to cover up their mistakes and the second is that all of this actually happened in a modern civilized Western country. Reading this book is like taking a long and painful journey through a dark tunnel; while anyone who is familiar with the history of the event knows how it will turn out, the journey is depressing and the reader is left with the feeling of having been a witness to a terrible set of wrongs. What makes this even a more painful journey is that the place described is not Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany, but France under the French Republic.

The book is well narrated and is worth reading but the reader should not expect to come out of the experience with the feeling that right will triumph in the end. This is a look at the dark side of human behavior, what people will do to hide their mistakes and how much pain they are willing to inflict on others in order to avoid the discomfort of embarrassment. In the end it is not an easy read.

The Good, the Bad, and Alfred Dreyfus

A magnificent insight by Robert Harris into a dark and moldy part of history. It is amazing to me that hatred for the Jews should have lasted for over 2000 years. Homo sapiens has produced such brilliant insights into the nature of the universe and in our own world. No other animal has gained such power over the Earth. Yet, for all the good we have accomplished, we have also brought so much cruelty and pain to ourselves and all other life. Robert Harris has given us Aa sobering view into a dark episode of our recent history. Irrational, unreasoned violence against our fellow human beings reduce ourselves to instinct-driven, cannibalistic predators.

Thanks to Robert Harris for giving us an understanding into the good and bad in all of us. The evil in the 19th Century French military still resides in all of us. The good that resided in all of the men and women who supported Alfred Dreyfus can be ours, too.

This is an amazing and thrilling listen.!!

I have sat in rapt anticipation of each thrilling and amazing turn of this story and sorry that it ended.