Graham Greene is one of the foremost prolific British writers of the 20th century. He did not come from money, but enjoyed the high life, and that drove him to write. Lucky for us.

Our Man Down in Havana details the actual story behind the writing of the novel. Twelve weeks after it was published in January 1959, the Cuban Revolution transformed a capitalist playground into a communist stronghold. And in 1962, when the Cuban missile crisis fixed the world on the island, those familiar with Greene’s novel and subsequent movie were amazed at the prescience of his vacuum cleaner like installations in the Cuban mountains.

What did Greene know that others did not? He spent a fair amount of time in old Cuba, hung out with prominent members of the Batista government and wealthy Cuban nationals. He also courted revolutionaries, sympathetic to their original motives. Did he work for the British Foreign Service as a spy? They did pay for many of his trips to Cuba and other world hot spots. While Hull’s carefully research inquiry forms conclusions, nothing is proven and validated due to the covenants of secrecy.

Recommended for lovers of Graham Greene, the history of the entanglement of the UK, the U.S. and Cuba during the 50s and the 60s, and the philology of Our Man in Havana.