Ten of the best courtroom dramas

Louise Doughty is the author of seven novels, including Apple Tree Yard. One of her ten best courtroom dramas, as shared at the Guardian:

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963)

In his cold war novel, adapted as a film starring Richard Burton, John Le Carré sets his denouement in an East German courtroom where the spy Alec Leamas learns the real reason for his mission behind the Berlin Wall. It isn’t strictly speaking a courtroom drama but earns its place for the power of the concluding line of Chapter 23. “And suddenly, with the terrible clarity of a man too long deceived, Leamas understood the whole ghastly trick.” Leamas realises how he has been used by the British Secret Service at just the moment the reader realises: superb.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is among Jon Stock's top ten John le Carré novels, the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five top books on The Cold War, Charles Cumming's best books, and Keith Jeffery's five best books about Britain's Secret Service.

--Marshal Zeringue