I've been aware of Graham Green's books for a long time but I have to admit that I've only read a couple being more familiar with the countless film adaptations of his better known stories such as 'Brighton Rock', 'The Quiet American' , 'The Power And The Glory' and 'The Third Man'. It was only when my wife picked this book up at an airport before going on a foreign business trip and brought it back home saying how good it was that I decided to give it a go and I'm glad I did. 'Our Man in Havana' is set in Cuba in 1958, a time of great tension just before the revolution that saw Fidel Castro come to power. This was a time of huge political intrigue, where Cuba ...  Read the complete review

"G.R.A.H.A.M. G.R.E.E.N.E" The young assistant in my local library shook her head as she gazed into her computer. "Can you spell that again for me? No. There isn't a Graham Greene." I gently explained that he was a well-known author with practically a shelf to himself, but that they had changed the books around during the past week. I suggested she look under the title, Our Man in Havana. "How do you spell Havana?" I popped into the corner where the public computer was and found it on the list before returning to the counter. It was the usual busy saturday afternoon and I rejoined the queue behind several children each holding .  Read the complete review

Our Man In Havana tells the story of an ageing vacuum cleaner dealer struggling to provide for himself and his daughter. His daughter is growing up fast and begins wanting things that he can't possibly pay for on his salary. So when a spy approaches him in the bathroom and offers him more money on the side to work as an agent he can hardly refuse... Graham Greene really is one of the most fantastic authors that this country has ever produced, and this country has surely produced some incredible ones. What I find brilliant about his work is that it appears timeless. Despite being written over 50 years ago to my eye it could have been written last year, the ...  Read the complete review

Our Man in Havana is one of my favourite Graham Greene novels. Set in Cuba during the rule of Batista. Wormold, a hapless British vacuum cleaner salesman and doting father, is looking for a way to increase his income and provide the lifestyle his young daughter desires. He meets a recruitment agent for the British Secret Service, who offers him work as a spy, which he finds it difficult to refuse. Wormold is no spy, so instead of engaging in espionage, he opts to invent a fantasy world, involving a network of fictitious agents and imaginary weapons installations, based on sketches of vacuum parts. His paymasters in London are very happy with his work, with ...  Read the complete review