The Human Factor (ISBN 0679409920) is an espionage novel by Graham Greene, first published in 1978 and adapted into a 1979 film by Otto Preminger. The genre of spy fiction — sometimes called political thriller or spy thriller — arose before World War I, and at about the same time that the first modern intelligence agencies were formed. ... Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe; title page of 1719 newspaper edition A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene, OM (October 2, 1904 – April 3, 1991) was a prolific English novelist, playwright, short story writer and critic whose works explore the doubtfulness of modern man and ambivalent moral or political issues in a contemporary setting. ... See also: 1977 in literature, other events of 1978, 1979 in literature, list of years in literature. ... // Events March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed. ... Otto Ludwig Preminger (December 5, 1906 – April 23, 1986) was a film director. ...

Maurice Castle is an ageing bureaucrat in the British secret service MI6. Married to a black African woman with whom he fell in love during his previous stint in apartheid South Africa, he now lives a quiet life in the surburbs and looks forward to retirement. As the book begins, however, a leak has been traced to the African section in London where he works and threatens to disrupt this precarious tranquility. Castle and younger colleague Davis make light of the resulting inquiry, but when Davis is accused on circumstantial evidence and quietly "disposed of", Castle begins to wrestle with questions of loyalty, morality and conscience. Because of both the secrecy of secret services and the controversial nature of the issues involved, there is some difficulty in separating the definitions of secret service, secret police, intelligence agency etc. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ... The term Blacks is often used in the West to denote race for persons whose progenitors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan Africa. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... } London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England and is the most populous city in the European Union. ...

Rather than action or high politics, the novel builds its suspense by focusing on the psychological burdens of the pawns in the game: doubt and paranoia bred by a culture of secrecy, the sophisticated amorality of the men at the top, and above all, loyalities (to who and what and at what cost?) Greene's characters are complete psychological portraits located within the context of the Cold War and the impact of international affairs on the complicated lives of individuals and vice versa. The interplay of international politics on the individual level is a trademark of this author. Amorality is the quality of having no concept of right or wrong. ... The Cold War (Russian: Холодная война , Kholodna-ya voina) was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their alliance partners. ...

In his 1980 autobiography Ways of Escape, Greene wrote that his aim with this book was "to write a novel of espionage free from the conventional violence, which has not, in spite of James Bond, been a feature of the British Secret Service. "I wanted to present the Service unromantically as a way of life, men going daily to their office to earn their pensions." Writing in his 70s, Greene drew on his own experience in MI6 and explored the moral ambiguities raised by his old boss, legendary Soviet double agent Kim Philby. See also: 1979 in literature, other events of 1980, 1981 in literature, list of years in literature. ... An Autobiography is an account of a persons life written by that person For music albums named Autobiography, see Autobiography (album) An autobiography (from the Greek auton, self, bios, life and graphein, write) is a biography written by the subject or composed conjointly with a collaborative writer (styled as... The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced double-oh seven), is a fictional British spy created by writer Ian Fleming in 1953. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ... State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... A double agent pretends to spy on a target organization on behalf of a controlling organization, but in fact is loyal to the target organization. ... Harold Adrian Russell Kim Philby or H.A.R. Philby (1 January 1912 – 11 May 1988) was a high ranking member of British intelligence who led a lifelong career as a spy for the Soviet Union. ...

External links

• The Human Factor at IMDB
• Yahoo! Movies page of The Human Factor