David Downing

By 1939, Anglo-American journalist John Russell has spent over a decade in Berlin, where his son lives with his mother. He writes human-interest pieces for British and American papers, avoiding the investigative journalism that could get him deported. But as World War II approaches, he faces having to leave his son as well as his girlfriend of several years, a beautiful German starlet. 
When an acquaintance from his old communist days approaches...

Berlin, 1948. Still occupied by the four Allied powers and largely in ruins, the city has become the cockpit of a new Cold War. The legacies of the war have become entangled in the new Soviet-American conflict, creating a world of bizarre and fleeting loyalties—a paradise for spies. As spring unfolds, a Western withdrawal looks increasingly likely. Berlin’s German inhabitants live in fear of the Soviet forces who occupy half the city,...

Summer, 1939. British journalist John Russell has just been granted American citizenship in exchange for agreeing to work for American intelligence when his girlfriend Effi is arrested by the Gestapo. Russell hoped his new nationality would let him safely stay in Berlin with Effi and his son, but now he’s being blackmailed. To free Effi, he must agree to work for the Nazis. They know he has Soviet connections and want him to pass them false...

This complex and “always entertaining” espionage novel takes readers to the dawn of the most fascinating characters of the 20th century—the spy (Washington Post).

On the eve of WWI, a Scottish car salesman’s ‘innocent’ data-gathering plunges him into a high-stakes game of espionage he never expected.
It is 1913, and those who follow the news closely can see the world is...

This provocative alternative history looks at the Second World War from a new angle - what might have happened had the Germans taken Moscow in 1941. Based on authentic history and real possibilities, this unique speculative narrative plays out the dramatic consequences of opportunities taken and examines the grotesque possibilities of a Third Reich triumphant. On 30 September 1941, the Germans fight their way into the ruins of Moscow and the Soviet...

World War II is nearly over. For the Russians, the enemy is no longer Nazi Germany, but the American behemoth that threatens to topple the Communist revolution. Deep within the walls of the Kremlin, Stalin's top man hatches a brilliant plan that will alter the course of postwar history-and it's all based on a deception as simple as the shell game. Five years later, an atomic bomb detonates deep within the borders of the Soviet Union, stunning the...

The third Jack McColl espionage thriller by David Downing brings together two lovers in Bolshevik Russia. Winter 1917: As a generation of Europe's young men perish on the Eastern and Western fronts, British spy Jack McColl is assigned a sabotage mission deep in Central Asia, where German influence is strong. As he quickly realizes, the mission only becomes more dangerous the closer he gets to its heart. Meanwhile, the woman he loves, Irish-American...

C. S. Lewis is generally regarded as a commonsense Christian whose theology is understandable and practical. And yet, from his memoir Surprised by Joy to The Chronicles of Narnia, from his nonfiction essays to his letters, C. S. Lewis's works display a distinct sense of the mystical. In this book, David C. Downing explores the breadth of Lewis's writing, introducing us to the context of Christian mysticism in Lewis's day and the writers who most influenced...

Personality heavyweights collide in 1947 when Joe Louis, Bill Robinson, and Paul Robeson are summoned to discuss the fate of baseball. Mr. Rickey, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, peruses the support of the aforementioned men as he tips Jackie Robinson as the first black ballplayer. However, racial tensions arise when Robeson questions integrating America's pastime.