Robert Littell (born January 8, 1935) is an American novelist and former journalist who resides in France. He specializes in

spy novels Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligen ...

that often concern the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Littell was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, to a Jewish family, of Russian Jewish origin. He is a 1956 graduate of

Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred (village), New York, Alfred, New York. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The ...

in western New York. He spent four years in the U.S. Navy and served at times as his ship's navigator, antisubmarine warfare officer, communications officer, and deck watch officer. Later Littell became a journalist and worked many years for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. He was a foreign correspondent for the magazine from 1965 to 1970. Littell is an amateur mountain climber and is the father of award-winning novelist

Jonathan Littell Jonathan Littell (born October 10, 1967) is a writer living in Barcelona. He grew up in France and the United States and is a citizen of both countries. After acquiring his bachelor's degree he worked for a humanitarian organisation for nine year ...

. His brother, Alan Littell (born 1929), is also an author and journalist. He is the brother-in-law of the French writer

Bernard du Boucheron Bernard du Boucheron (born 18 July 1928 in Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in ...

.Corty, Bruno
À la rencontre de l'autre Littell
''Le Figaro'', 21 March 2009.

Bibliography

Novels

*'' The Defection of A. J. Lewinter'' (1973) *''Sweet Reason'' (1974) *''The October Circle'' (1975) *''Mother Russia'' (1978) *''The Debriefing'' (1979) *''The Amateur'' (1981) *''The Sisters'' (1986) *''The Revolutionist'' (1988) *''The Once and Future Spy'' (1990) *''An Agent in Place'' (1991) *''The Visiting Professor'' (1994) *''Walking Back the Cat'' (1997) *'' The Company'' (2002) *''Legends'' (2005) *''Vicious Circle'' (2006) *''The Stalin Epigram'' (2009) *''Young Philby'' (2012) *''A Nasty Piece of Work'' (2013) *''The Mayakovsky Tapes'' (2016) *''Comrade Koba'' (2019)

Semi-fiction

*''

If Israel Lost the War ''If Israel Lost the War'' is a 1969 alternate history political novel written jointly by Robert Littell, Richard Z. Chesnoff and Edward Klein. Synopsis The book's point of divergence is the assumption the Arab air forces on June 5, 1967, launch ...

'' (

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

) (with Richard Z. Chesnoff and

Edward Klein Edward J. Klein (born 1936) is an American author and former foreign editor of ''Newsweek'', former editor-in-chief of ''The New York Times Magazine'' (1977–1987). He has written about the Kennedys, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, ...

) (1969)

Non-fiction

*''For the Future of Israel'' (with

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...

) (1998)

Films and Television

* ''The Amateur'' (1981 film) * ''The Company'' (miniseries) * ''Legends'' (TV series)

Awards

*''The Defection of A. J. Lewinter''. 1973 British

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors’ organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its Dagger awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. T ...

's Gold Dagger Award for fiction. *''Legends''. 2005

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), history, mystery/thriller ( ...

in the Mystery/Thriller category.

References

External links

''All Things Considered'' review of several books including ''Legends''.
*

Feature: "On Writing Young Philby" in Shots Ezine November 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Littell, Robert 1935 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists Alfred University alumni American male journalists Journalists from New York City Newsweek people Writers from Brooklyn United States Navy officers American male novelists American expatriates in France 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) 21st-century American non-fiction writers Jewish American journalists Jewish American novelists American people of Russian-Jewish descent 21st-century American Jews