Book description
>It is the story, primarily, of Noel Reid, a professor of History
and Philosophy, (married, but not very happily) who is posted in 1941 to
the Intelligence unit operating in the Lebanon. Here, he joins forces
with Nigel Farrar, boss of MI5 in Beirut, and is soon involved in
complex plans to suborn hand-picked Lebanese for service in the Allied
cause, mainly to relay misleading information to the Germans in
Istanbul. Woven into this complex business is also the story of his
turbulent affair with Diana, a young woman who works for Farrar.
The whole of Noel Reid s wartime adventures are seen in retrospect as he
revisits the scene seventeen years later and meets again both Farrar and
Diana. For them the war has brought a new, completely satisfying life;
for himself he can at least say: "It is not difficult to live
contentedly once you have realized that there is such a thing in the
world as happiness, even though you have lost it, and know that you will
never get it."> >It is the story, primarily, of Noel Reid, a
professor of History and Philosophy, (married, but not very happily) who
is posted in 1941 to the Intelligence unit operating in the Lebanon.
Here, he joins forces with Nigel Farrar, boss of MI5 in Beirut, and is
soon involved in complex plans to suborn hand-picked Lebanese for
service in the Allied cause, mainly to relay misleading information to
the Germans in Istanbul. Woven into this complex business is also the
story of his turbulent affair with Diana, a young woman who works for Farrar.
The whole of Noel Reid s wartime adventures are seen in retrospect as he
revisits the scene seventeen years later and meets again both Farrar and
Diana. For them the war has brought a new, completely satisfying life;
for himself he can at least say: "It is not difficult to live
contentedly once you have realized that there is such a thing in the
world as happiness, even though you have lost it, and know that you will
never get it.">
