The Third Man

This noir classic by the "superb storyteller" is the basis for the movie named the best British film of all time by the British Film Institute (The New York Times).

 


Almost-broke pulp author Rollo Martins sets out for Vienna after receiving an invitation from his old friend Harry Lime, who might have a financial opportunity for him. But when he arrives, he's shocked to learn that Lime is dead in what appeared to be an accident—and that his pal had been under investigation for racketeering. That raises questions some questions for Martins, so he starts combing the postwar ruins of the Austrian capital to find out for himself what happened to Harry Lime . . .


 

The Third Man is one of the best-known works by Graham Greene, author of The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, and The End of the Affair—famed for his complex, philosophical novels, and compelling tales of crime, espionage, and suspense.


 


"The most ingenious, inventive and exciting of our novelists . . . A master of storytelling." —V. S. Pritchett, The Times (London)


 


"Greene had wit and grace . . . and a transcendent universal compassion that places him for all time in the ranks of world literature." —John LeCarre


 


"In a class by himself." —William Golding


 


An enormously popular writer who was also one of the most significant novelists of his time." —Newsweek