2026 Reading Challenge

Listopia > Cold War Book Lists

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le CarréThe Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le CarréThe Bourne Identity by Robert LudlumThe Day of the Jackal by Frederick ForsythThe Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
Best Spy Novels
1,294 books — 2,257 voters
Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. MassieThe Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956 by Aleksandr SolzhenitsynCatherine the Great by Robert K. MassiePeter the Great by Robert K. MassieGulag by Anne Applebaum
Best Russian History Books
550 books — 385 voters

Ghost Wars by Steve CollThe Looming Tower by Lawrence WrightDiplomacy by Henry KissingerLegacy of Ashes by Tim WeinerThe Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis
American Foreign Policy
461 books — 272 voters
1776 by David McCulloughTeam of Rivals by Doris Kearns GoodwinBattle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPhersonJohn Adams by David McCulloughA People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
U.S. History Reading List
446 books — 144 voters

All the President’s Men by Carl BernsteinMaster of the Senate by Robert A. CaroThe Path to Power by Robert A. CaroMeans of Ascent by Robert A. CaroTruman by David McCullough
American Politics
480 books — 127 voters
11/22/63 by Stephen KingPeter Pan by J.M. BarrieStranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. HeinleinBlood River by Tim ButcherThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
ATY 2020 - Books Based on "We Didn't Start the Fire"
309 books — 113 voters

A Spy Among Friends by Ben MacintyreIron Curtain by Anne ApplebaumThe Triumph of Improvisation by James Graham WilsonThe Billion Dollar Spy by David E. HoffmanThe Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre
The Cold War (nonfiction)
358 books — 105 voters
Casino Royale by Ian FlemingFrom Russia with Love by Ian FlemingMoonraker by Ian FlemingLive and Let Die by Ian FlemingOn Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming
Best James Bond Books
90 books — 93 voters

Black Hawk Down by Mark BowdenA Higher Call by Adam MakosMasters of the Air by Donald L. MillerStuka Pilot by Hans-Ulrich RudelChickenhawk by Robert Mason
Nonfiction Military Aviation
217 books — 79 voters
Anastasia by Carolyn MeyerBetween Shades of Gray by Ruta SepetysTsarina by J. Nelle PatrickThe Lost Crown by Sarah MillerThe Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges
Russia in YA & Middle Grade Historical Fiction
122 books — 72 voters

Catch-22 by Joseph HellerThe Raiders and the Cross by Patrick LarsimontNadya's War by C.S. TaylorFlight of the Intruder by Stephen CoontsFlight of the Old Dog by Dale Brown
Military Aviation Novels
87 books — 69 voters
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le CarréTinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le CarréSmiley's People by John le CarréThe Quiet American by Graham GreeneThe Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré
Best Cold War Spy Books
46 books — 59 voters

The Coldest Winter by David HalberstamThe Korean War by Max HastingsOn Desperate Ground by Hampton SidesFrozen Chosin by Edwin H. SimmonsThis Kind of War by T.R. Fehrenbach
Korean War
136 books — 52 voters
Red Storm Rising by Tom ClancyTeam Yankee by Harold CoyleRed Army by Ralph PetersRed Phoenix by Larry BondThe Third World War, August 1985 by John Winthrop Hackett
Cold War turns hot
30 books — 48 voters

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerFor Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest HemingwayThe Crucible by Arthur MillerOn the Road by Jack KerouacPeter Pan by J.M. Barrie
1949-89: A History Lesson By Billy Joel
180 books — 47 voters
Buses Are a Comin' by Charles PersonA Place at the Nayarit by Natalia MolinaAnd a Voice to Sing With by Joan BaezOutlaw Woman by Roxanne Dunbar-OrtizHouse of Diggs by Marion Orr
Sixties Memoirs & Biographies (nonfiction)
175 books — 38 voters

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor CoerrPenny from Heaven by Jennifer L. HolmThe Lions of Little Rock by Kristin LevineDanny the Champion of the World by Roald DahlWith the Might of Angels by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Middle Grade Fiction set in the 1950s
172 books — 35 voters
On the Beach by Nevil ShuteThe Martian Chronicles by Ray BradburyAlas, Babylon by Pat FrankThe 40 Minute War by Janet E. MorrisSwan Song by Robert McCammon
Fictional Books About Nuclear War
23 books — 30 voters

DECEIT v. DECEIT by Vernon BaumrindSpy... for Nobody! by Basel Saneebجاسوس من أجل لا أحد by Basel SaneebSpy... for Nobody! Sixteen Years in the Syrian Intelligence by Basel SaneebThe Ghost by Jefferson Morley
CIA: Suggested Reading List
115 books — 24 voters
Nixonland by Rick PerlsteinThe Final Days by Bob WoodwardNixon and Kissinger by Robert DallekAll the President’s Men by Carl BernsteinBag Man by Rachel Maddow
Richard Nixon (fiction and nonfiction)
136 books — 19 voters

Spy... for Nobody! Sixteen Years in the Syrian Intelligence by Basel SaneebKillers of the Flower Moon by David Grannجاسوس من أجل لا أحد by Basel SaneebSpy... for Nobody! by Basel SaneebSpy for nobody by Basel Saneeb
Best FBI Nonfiction
52 books — 16 voters
Being Plumville by Savannah J. FriersonThe Summer of Tsunami by S. Campbell WilliamsThe Clouds Beneath the Sun by Mackenzie FordMessage From Nam by Danielle SteelAcross 7th Street by Marino Amoruso
Romance Novels Set in the 1960's
28 books — 14 voters

From Russia with Love by Ian FlemingSource*Forged Armor by Paul J. BartusiakThe Russia House by John le CarréFirewall by Andy McNabNeed to Know by Karen Cleveland
Best Russian Espionage Books (fiction)
36 books — 13 voters
A Spy Among Friends by Ben MacintyreThe Ghost by Jefferson MorleyA Spy Named Orphan by Roland PhilippsStalin's Englishman by Andrew LownieTreason in the Blood by Anthony Cave Brown
Cambridge Spy Ring (nonfiction)
30 books — 11 voters

Uber, Volume 1 by Kieron GillenZenith by Grant MorrisonUber, Volume 2 by Kieron GillenWatchmen by Alan MooreThe Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar
Superheroes in war
54 books — 9 voters
What Happened In Vienna, Jack? by Daniel KempAmerican Spy by Lauren WilkinsonSparkles And Karim by Dave MooresBack Channel by Stephen L. CarterThe Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen L. Carter
Military, War, and Espionage Fiction Published by African-Americans in Decade: 2010s
10 books — 9 voters

What Happened In Vienna, Jack? by Daniel KempBlack Cloud Rising by David Wright FaladéSparkles And Karim by Dave MooresStill Kickin' by Billie Hanson-DupreeHome Front Lines by Brenda Sparks Prescott
Military, War, and Espionage Fiction Published by African-Americans in Decade: 2020s
7 books — 9 voters
International Discography of the New Wave, Volume II by B. GeorgeThe Official Valley Girl Coloring Book by Moon ZappaMax Headroom's Guide to Life by David HansenThe Naked Computer by Jack B. RochesterSingle Season Sitcoms of the 1980s by Bob Leszczak
Down & Out In Benny Hills ....(1980s)
102 books — 4 voters

New Atlantis Revisited by Paul R. JosephsonEngineering Communism by Steven T. UsdinHow Not to Network a Nation by Benjamin PetersComputing in Russia by Georg TrogemannFrom Newspeak to Cyberspeak by Slava Gerovitch
Soviet Computing
44 books — 3 voters
The Martian by Andy WeirProject Hail Mary by Andy WeirThe Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas AdamsSkunk Works by Ben R. RichGemini by Jeffrey Kluger
Books for the Discerning Space Fan
35 books — 3 voters

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