Random Article Summary #79

'Funeral in Berlin' is a spy novel written by Len Deighton in 1964. It is the third book in a series about a British agent and is set over the span of one month in 1963. The novel is preceded by two other books and followed by another. The protagonist travels to Berlin to arrange the defection of a Soviet scientist named Semitsa, with the support of Russian security-chief Colonel Stok and Hallam at the Home Office. However, it becomes clear that the elaborate mock funeral is hiding a dangerous game of deadly manoeuvres and ruthless tactics. The UK publication of Funeral in Berlin resulted in a lawsuit when a UK company named Brock's Fireworks objected to being mentioned in the novel's dialogue. The company sued for libel and the complaint was upheld, resulting in the removal of the dialogue from the 1972 Penguin edition of the book in the UK. However, the ruling did not impact books published outside of the UK, which still contained the dialogue. Funeral in Berlin was adapted into a film in 1966 and a TV series in 1973. In the TV series, the book is shown at the end of the episode, but it is revealed to be a double bluff as the main character throws the book into the fireplace. Each chapter in the article 'Funeral in Berlin' is titled with a quote from the rules of chess.