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City of Gold
Len Deighton
January 1942. Rommel’s seemingly invincible Afrika Korps is at the gates of Egypt – perhaps soon to threaten Cairo itself.Rommel has a spy in the city – a source so well-informed that the German commander knows in advance every movement of the allied forces.Amongst the teeming streets and bazaars, the British, led by Major Albert Cutler, must find him. But Cairo is a city of fool’s gold, where nothing and nobody, not even Cutler, can be taken at face value…This new reissue includes a foreword from the cover designer, Oscar-winning filmmaker Arnold Schwartzman, and a brand new introduction by Len Deighton, which offers a fascinating insight into the writing of the story.
Len Deighton
City of Gold
Copyright
This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
This paperback edition 2011
First published in Great Britain by
Century in 1992
Copyright © Len Deighton 1992
Introduction copyright © Pluriform Publishing Company BV 2011
Cover designer’s note © Arnold Schwartzman 2011
Len Deighton asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
CITY OF GOLD. Copyright © Len Deighton 1992. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Source ISBN: 9780007385843
Ebook Edition © AUGUST 2011 ISBN: 9780007450848
Version: 2017-08-10
Epigraph
They say that the sergeant’s a very nice chap,
Oh what a tale to tell.
Ask him for leave on a Saturday night –
He’ll pay your fare home as well.
There’s many a soldier has blighted his life
Thro’ writing rude words on the wall,
You’ll get no promotion this side of the ocean,
So cheer up, my lads. Bless ’em all!
Trooping song
Contents
Cover (#ud9da0b39-5b77-5d52-b268-64f5a39cd448)
Title Page (#u7c631a28-5876-5df6-bd0b-5f0a6e136dc5)
Copyright
Epigraph
Cover designer’s note
Prompted by seeing the renderings of my two murals for…
Introduction
Picture me, a scruffy tourist in bush shirt and slacks,…
Prologue
In the final months of 1941, General Erwin Rommel –…
1
‘I like escorting prisoners,’ said Captain Albert Cutler, settling back…
2
The region called El Birkeh, where so many of Cairo’s…
3
At Cairo the water of the Nile divides to make…
4
They’d given Jimmy Ross his predecessor’s quarters. He was in…
5
Having finished her shift at the Base Hospital, Peggy West…
6
Peggy’s fears, about taking Alice Stanhope to the Base Hospital,…
7
No one claimed to remember when or where or why…
8
To the casual observer, the soldiers seemed to belong here.
9
‘I like them. I think those two are the nicest…
10
‘Did you hear that it rained in the desert?’ said…
11
‘The balloon’s gone up,’ said Lionel Marker as he pressed…
12
Bab-el-Hadid barracks was a curious-looking, three-storey structure, built to look…
13
Alice Stanhope had learned to drive her father’s four-litre Brough…
14
Harry Wechsler had been thinking about Alice Stanhope right up…
15
This was a different world. In this strip of desert…
16
Peggy West had seen very little of Prince Piotr until…
17
‘It’s hush hush. Top damned secret, old boy.’ Wallingford grinned…
18
‘Alice tells me you have been thinking of going to…
19
‘It will soon be time to move on,’ Solomon told…
20
Robin Darymple was happier than he had been for months.
21
‘This is my favourite time of year,’ said Wallingford suddenly,…
22
Alice got the news from Peggy West. Peggy spent fifteen…
Postscript
About the Author
Other Books by Len Deighton
About the Publisher (#u2e089d89-42ec-5646-8c9f-2d0962e57496)
Cover designer’s note
Prompted by seeing the renderings of my two murals for Cunard’s new ship, Queen Elizabeth, Len Deighton suggested that I illustrate some of the covers of this next quartet of re-issues. I am delighted to be given the opportunity to draw once again, as it has been well over thirty years since my days as a regular illustrator for the Sunday Times.
While drawing the figure of Rommel against the background of Cairo’s Citadel Mosque for this book’s cover, I donned headphones and listened to the recording of Len Deighton’s Violent Ward, seeking inspiration for the design of that book. Fortunately the city under threat from the German Field Marshal and that of a modern-day Los Angeles are worlds apart so I was able to breathe life into the ‘Desert Fox’ even as I was being filled with images of the faded glamour, corruption and danger of the City of Angels.
Once again the internet assisted me in locating suitable pieces of ephemera for the back cover, such as the Second World War British Army Tank Corp badge, which is just like Field Marshal Montgomery’s. In preparing it for the camera, I took great pleasure in applying Brasso to the tarnished badge, a task that I had not undertaken since my days serving with the Royal Sussex Regiment in Korea – Monty would have been proud of me! I was also able to obtain a Desert Rat shoulder patch, plus an Afrika Korps sleeve band.
Among a collection of postcards given to me by friends who had acquired them on their Grand Tour, I found several of Cairo’s narrow passages and of the famous Shepheard’s Hotel, and even one of the hotel’s luggage labels.
The book’s spine displays the obverse of an Egyptian 2 piastres coin featuring the image of the sixteen-year-old King Farouk. His portrait is also on the 1940s Cairo stamped envelope. Observant readers will notice that each of the spines in this latest quartet of reissues features a metallic object; a subtle visual link that draws together four books written and set in very different times and places.
I have taken the photograph for this book’s back cover with my Canon 5D camera, and my illustration was drawn with an HB Staedtler pencil.
Arnold Schwartzman OBE RDI
Hollywood 2011
Introduction
