Cold war thrillers - recommendations

[Notverygrownup]

DS, only just 16 and gloriously naive about the world, is about to start History A level. I want to watch some good thrillers with him, focusing on the cold war, to get a bit of context. He would hate "The Spy who came in from the Cold". It's got to have lots of action and be fairly accessible. I can only think of The Lives of Others.

Your recommendations much appreciated.

I know you said watch, but the Ken Follett century trilogy are great books to explain the cold war and how we got there. Sorry for it not being what you asked for at all, but it's the first thing I thought of when you said cold war.

Would Chernobyl be too hard hitting for him?
It's not about the politics directly but of course the politics informs a lot of the situation.

These are all good

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Manchurian Candidate
The Hunt for Red October

Deutschland 83 and Deutschland 84 (I think those are the right years!) are very fast paced, well plotted, feature a noticeably young protagonist and illuminate a lot of what was going on at the time in such an engaging way that you don't even notice. They were available on all 4 very recently and hopefully still are.

And the very recent
Bridge of Spies

The Russia House

Agree with these so far and would also suggest No Way Out, from the 80s. Lots of plot twists and double dealings and the end of it was genuinely arresting.

Thank you! Lots of great starting points there. Looking forward to some good film nights in with ds!

Oops I should say that the Deutschlands are series!

Haven't read any of his books for years, but Ted Allbeurry writes some good stuff

Anothr vote for Bridge of Spies.

Don't forget The Third Man. But i didn't understand any of it when i first saw it, might need an explanation.

Maybe Dr Strangelove? I haven't actually seen it

Definitely The Hunt for Red October and Bridge of Spies. The Frederic Forsyth spy books are also excellent Cold War thrillers. I’ve read loads of them and they’re very good. Also worth reading/watching some pre/post war stuff about Facism and Communism to get some context politically. Animal Farm is of course a great place to start, and also books like 1984 and Brave New World to get the kind of ‘worst case scenario’ dystopian fiction of what happens if you take an ideology to its most extreme point. They’re all quite short and relatively easy reads and I read them at a similar age.

Another vote for Bridge Of Spies
13 Days - this is about the Cuban Missile Crisis - very relevant though
Hunt For Red October - Excellent Movie
The Ipcress Files - Michael Caine as Harry Palmer(other films in the Harry Palmer roles)

There an excellent TV series called The Americans - about 2 KGB spies living in the USA during the Ronald Reagan administration.

Graham Greene, C P Snow, John le Carre and Frederick Forsyth, I think. I used to love Cold War novels!

Hunt for Red October in both film and book form. Cardinal of the Kremlin is a novel, don't think it was ever filmed.

Dh tells me Hunt for Red October is very realistic. He was not best pleased to be dragged to see it after two months dived at sea!

Top Gun I suppose is loosely Cold War, has great music and pretty fighter jets.

I'll second The Americans. I thought it was great, and loved the 80s music too. There is a bit of sex in it so might be awkward if you and DS watch it together. The Deutschland series was very good too.

Also, not what you were asking, but visiting Berlin itself is great. There are so many museums and experiences that bring that time period to life. I'm a history buff and loved my visit there.

Gorky Park is a flight of fancy but excellent.

How about Goodbye Lenin to see how people coped after the wall came down?

There was a series based on the Hook, Line, Sinker books by (I think) Len Deighton which were pretty good.

I'm currently listening to all the BBC radio additions of John Le Carre on Audible. Really excellent. Baffled that he would think The Spy Who Came In From The Cold' didn't have enough action though.

Ice Station Zebra and other Alistair Maclean novels. I read it when I was about that age (back when the Berlin wall was still a thing...) and really enjoyed it.

Deutschland 83 has a banging soundtrack too. The next series is Deutschland 86.

Ultimate Issue by George Markstein,
The novels of Jack Grimwood,
The Karin Muller series by David Young,
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

@WeshMaGueule OHHHHHH Ice Station Zebra is fantastic.

The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth is quite spiffy too.

Thank you all. Bless him, he has the attention span of a flea, and the critical subtlety of a bulldozer. Something we can watch with enough suspense to keep him off his phone and awake will be a great start.

Will try lots of these till we strike gold. The sex in Americans should keep him awake henny and I am loving having a good excuse to go to Berlin. I last visited in early 1992 when the wall was very newly down. I absolutely loved exploring East Berlin, which was still completely unwesternised - like walking through a film set.

Sleepers- the tv series with Nigel Havers. Out on DVD.

More a comedy, but it’s utterly fab!

Yes, Len Deighton definitely