A galloping page-turner and a stark picture of a nation ruled by terror and unreason, which reads like a sinister rewrite of Alice in Wonderland

Packed with fascinating detail … vibrant authenticity and calm analysis

Fascinating… [Finn and Couvée] manage to shed new light on both the period and the characters involved

A compelling, seductively written tale of Cold War censorship and paranoia

Excellent, superbly researched, and as exciting in its way as any Cold War thriller. Pasternak himself emerges clearly and strongly in all his complexity. This was the most important literary controversy of the post-war world, and Finn and Couvée have presented it with immense care and colour. The aftermath of the affair still has resonance even now

An extraordinary, gripping tale of art and espionage, The Zhivago Affair embodies the belief shared by its flamboyant cast of geniuses, barbarians, lovers and eccentrics: books matter

[The Zhivago Affair] really is a thriller, a page turner

A fine contribution to our knowledge of what became known as the Pasternak affair

A you-couldn’t-make-it-up account of the CIA’s campaign to smuggle copies of Pasternak’s banned novel into the USSR

Beautifully crafted and scrupulously researched… The Zhivago Affair is a prime example of hard work and fidelity to a good story

As gripping as any spy thriller

Fascinating...With a delightful eye for detail

Finn and Couvée deal objectively with the characters involved and tell the story with exceptional vivacity

A thrilling literary espionage yarn...sheds new light on the Cold War struggle for the hearts and minds of millions of people

A fascinating tale that sheds new light on the literary front of the Cold War

High dudgeon, high stakes, high art

A wonderful book

A fast-paced political thriller about a book that terrified a nation

Brisk and thrilling...expertly told...a triumphant reminder that truth is sometimes gloriously stranger than fiction

Groundbreaking reporting and character-rich storytelling... Passionately written...almost makes one nostalgic for a time when novels were so important that even the CIA cared about them

A sparkling and fascinating account

Well-paced narrative...of great relevance today, when such conflicts seem (but only seem) to have disappeared.

Immensely compelling

Meticulously researched

The true strength of this meticulously researched book is the placing of the revelations into the context of a compelling human drama

Engrossing

[An] outstanding treasure of literature

Impeccably researched, and moving, this book breaks new ground