Works by
Jeffrey Archer
(Politician, Writer)

Fiction

• Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (1976)
  The conned: an Oxford don, a revered society physician, a chic French art dealer, and a charming English lord. They have one thing in common. Overnight, each novice investor lost his life's fortune to one man. The con: Harvey Metcalfe. A brilliant, self-made guru of deceit. A very dangerous individual. And now, a hunted man.

  With nothing left to lose four strangers are about to come together -- each expert in their own field. Their plan: find Harvey, shadow him, trap him, and penny-for-penny, destroy him. From the luxurious casinos of Monte Carlo to the high-stakes windows at Ascot to the bustling streets of Wall Street to fashionable London galleries, their own ingenious game has begun. It's called revenge -- and they were taught by a master.

• A Quiver Full of Arrows (1982)

• First Among Equals (1984)
  Charles Seymour, second-born son, will never be the earl like his father, but he did inherit his mother's strength -- and the will to realize his destiny... Simon Kerslake's father sacrificed everything to make sure his son's dreams come true. Now it is Simon's chance to rise as high as those dreams allow... Ray Gould was born to the back streets but raised with pride -- a quality matched by a sharp intellect and the desire to attain the impossible... Andrew Fraser was raised by a soccer hero turned politician. Now it's his turn for heroics, whatever the cost.

  From strangers to rivals, four men embark on a journey for the highest stakes of all -- the keys to No. 10 Downing Street. Unfolding over three decades, their honor will be tested, their loyalties betrayed, and their love of family and country challenged. But in a game where there is a first among equals, only one can triumph.

• A Matter of Honor (1986)
  It seems innocent enough. A disgraced British colonel bequeaths a mysterious letter to his only son. But the moment Adam Scott opens the yellowing envelope, he sets into motion a deadly chain of events that threatens to shake the very foundations of the free world.

  Within days, Adam's lover is brutally murdered and he's running for his life through the great cities of Europe, pursued not only by the KGB, but by the CIA and his own countrymen as well. Their common intent is to kill him before the truth comes out. While powerful men in smoke-filled rooms plot ever more ingenious means of destroying him, Adam finds himself betrayed and abandoned even by those he holds most dear.

  When at last he comes to understand what he is in possession of, he's even more determined to protect it, for it's more than a matter of life and death -- it's a matter of honour.

• As the Crow Flies (1991)
  Growing up in the slums of East End London, Charlie Trumper dreams of someday running his grandfather's fruit and vegetable barrow. That day comes suddenly when his grandfather dies leaving him the floundering business. With the help of Becky Salmon, an enterprising young woman, Charlie sets out to make a name for himself as "The Honest Trader". But the brutal onset of World War I takes Charlie far from home and into the path of a dangerous enemy whose legacy of evil follows Charlie and his family for generations.

  Encompassing three continents and spanning over sixty years, As the Crow Flies brings to life a magnificent tale of one man's rise from rags to riches set against the backdrop of a changing century.

• A Twist in the Tale (1991)

• Twelve Red Herrings (1994)

• Honour Among Thieves (1995)
  Spring 1994, Washington, D.C. -- While the Clinton Administration grapples with its domestic policies, a sinister plot is being masterminded six thousand miles away in Baghdad. By using $100 million as bait and spinning a deadly web of corruption, forgery, and terror, Saddam Hussein seeks to embarrass the U.S. with the ultimate revenge: to steal a treasured historical document and then destroy it before the world's media -- on July 4, 1994.

  As the countdown to Independence Day begins, two agents stand in the way of his nearly flawless plan: Scott Bradley, a rising star in the CIA who is desperate to prove his patriotism, and Hannah Kopec, the stunning Mossad operative who has already lost so much that she fears nothing and trusts no one. Their unrelenting quest to prevent what would undoubtedly be the most humiliating day in U.S. history takes them across four continents and climaxes in a dramatic, triple-twist ending.

  Ingeniously plotted and as up-to-the-minute as today's headlines, Honour Among Thieves resonates with the brilliant pace that is the trademark of master storyteller Jeffrey Archer.

• The Fourth Estate (1996)
  Lubji Hoch breaks the bonds of his humble beginnings as the son of an illiterate Jewish peasant, escapes the Nazis, changes his name to Richard Armstrong, becomes a decorated officer in the British army, and ultimately finds himself in Berlin, where his sharp mind and killer instincts win him the opportunity to head up a floundering newspaper. As rival papers in the city fail in the wake of his ruthlessness, he nonetheless yearns to move on to even greater things.
  
  On the other side of the world, in Australia, Keith Townsend, son of a millionaire newspaper owner, is being groomed to follow in his father's footsteps. Private schools, an Oxford degree, and a position at a London newspaper lead him up to the time of his father's death, when he takes over the family business. His energy and brilliant strategic thinking quickly make him the leading newspaper publisher in Australia. Yet he too longs to move on to the world stage.
  
  As both Armstrong and Townsend seize control of everything they see, their ambitions collide on a global scale. But suddenly they both find themselves threatened by finicial disaster and enormous debt. Frantic to save his crumbling empire, each man turns desperate. One's quest will lead to triumph, the other's will end in tragedy in this awesome tale of wealth and corruption, desire and destruction.
  
  The Fourth Estate is the timely and compelling story of two men who, though they come from totally different backgrounds, stand face-to-face on the highest precipice, prepared to risk everything to beat each other and control the biggest media empire in the world.

• The Eleventh Commandment (1998)
  Connor Fitzgerald is the professional's professional. Holder of the Medal of Honor. Devoted family man. Servant of his country. The CIA's most deadly weapon. But for the past 28 years, Fitzgerald has been leading a double life. And only days from his retirement from the Agency, he comes across an enemy even he cannot handle. The enemy is his own boss, helen Dexter, the Director of the CIA. And she has only one purpose: to destroy him.

  Meanwhile, the United States is faced with an equally formidable foe: a new Russian President, determined to force a military confrontation between the two superpowers. Ranging from the Oval Office in the White House to a Russian Mafia boss's luxurious hideaway outside St Petersburg, The Eleventh Commandment sets new standards in contemporary thriller writing. Jeffrey Archer scoops his readers up in the first paragraph, and doesn't let them go until the last. The pace, the ingenuity, the twists, intertwined with a moving love story, show Britain's bestselling writer at the peak of his page-turning powers.

• The Collected Short Stories (1998)

• To Cut a Long Story Short (2000)

• Sons of Fortune (2003)
  Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer returns with a powerful tale of twins separated by fate and reunited by destiny. It is Hartford, Connecticut, in the late 1940's, and a set of twins is separated at birth by a desperate nurse. Nat Cartwright goes home with his parents, a schoolteacher and an insurance salesman. But his twin brother is to begin his days as Fletcher Andrew Davenport, son of a wealthy CEO and his society wife. During the years that follow, the two brothers grow up unaware of each other's existence. Nat leaves college at the University of Connecticut to serve in Vietnam. Returning a war hero, he finishes school and goes on to become a successful bank executive. Fletcher, meanwhile, has graduated from Yale University and distinguishes himself as a criminal defence lawyer before he is elected a senator. As their lives unfold, both men are confronted with tragedy and betrayal, loss and hardship, all the time overcoming life's obstacles to become the men they are destined to be. In the tradition of Jeffrey Archer's most popular books, SONS OF FORTUNE is as much a chronicle of a nation in transition as it is the story of the making of these two men - and how, eventually, they come to find each other...

• False Impression (2006)
  An engrossing tale of a missing masterpiece, False Impression is Jeffrey Archer's 12th novel. In False Impression, his love and knowledge of the art world resonates on every page, and, although it spans days, not decades, this novel still captures the epic sweep of Jeffrey's previous books.

  The tale unfolds in New York, where Anna Petrescu is missing, presumed dead, after 9/11. She uses her new status to escape from America, only to be pursued across the world from Toronto to London, to Hong Kong, Tokyo and Bucharest as she tries to find answers to the following questions:
   

  • Why was an aristocratic old lady brutally murdered in her English country home the night before 9/11?

  • Why was a successful New York banker not surprised to receive a woman's left ear in the morning post?

  • Why did a top Manhattan lawyer only work for one client, but never charge a fee?

  • Why was an Olympic gymnast paid a million dollars an assignment, when she didn't have a bank account?

  • Why was an Honours graduate working as a temporary secretary after inheriting a fortune?

  • Why was an English Countess ready to kill the banker, the lawyer, and the gymnast, even if it meant spending the rest of her life in jail?

  • Why was a Japanese steel magnate happy to hand over $50,000,000 to a woman he had only met once?

  • Why was a senior FBI agent trying to work out what the connection was between these eight apparently innocent individuals?

  It will take all the resources of the FBI and Interpol to work out the connection between this seemingly disparate cast of characters. The one thing they all have in common is Van Gogh's Self-Portrait with a Bandaged Ear. Full of twists and turns and heart-stopping intrigue, False Impression is guaranteed to pull you into its cleverly constructed web and not let you go until the final page.

1. Kane & Abel (1979)
   The compulsive story of two powerful men linked by an all-consuming hatred, from a number 1 bestselling author.

   William Lowell Kane and Abel Rosnovski, one the son of a Boston millionaire, the other a penniless polish immigrant -- born on the same day near the turn of the century on opposite sides of the world -- are brought together by fate and the quest of a dream. Two men -- ambitious, powerful, ruthless -- are locked in a relentless struggle to build an empire, fuelled by their all-consuming hatred. Over sixty years and three generations, through war, marriage, fortune, and disaster, Kane and Abel battle for the success and triumph that only one man can have...

2. The Prodigal Daughter (1982)
   With a will of steel, Polish immigrant Florentyna Rosnovski is indeed Abel's daughter. She shares with her father a love of America, his ideals, and his dream for the future. But she wants more to be the first female president.

   Golden boy Richard Kane was born into a life of luxury. The scion of a banking magnate he is successful, handsome, and determined to carve his own path in the world -- and to build a future with the woman he loves.

   With Florentyna's ultimate goal only a heartbeat away, both are about to discover the shattering price of power as a titanic battle of betrayal and deception reaches out from the past -- a blood feud between two generations that threatens to destroy everything Florentyna and Richard have fought to achieve.

3. Shall We Tell the President (1978)
   6 days, 13 hours and 37 minutes to go ...

   At the end of The Prodigal Daughter, Florentyna Kane is elected President - the first woman President of the United States. After decades of struggle, sacrifice, and personal tragedy, she has finally attained her goal. Yet even as she gives her inaugural speech, those who oppose her are plotting to silence her forever.

   At 7.30 p.m. one evening the FBI learn of a plot to kill her - the 1,572nd such threat of the year. At 8.30 p.m., five people know all the details. By 9.30 p.m., four of them are dead.

   Only one man, FBI agent Mark Andrews, knows when the assassins will strike, and even he doesn't know where, how, or most importantly, who they are. He has only six days to track down the senator at the heart of the cold-blooded conspiracy. Six days in which he can waste no time, leave no trail, and trust no one. Six days to prevent certain death of the President.

   One wrong word, one false move, and both a nation and a dream will crumble.

A Prison Diary Series
On July 19, 2001, following a conviction for perjury, Jeffrey was sentenced to four years in prison. Prisoner FF8282, as he was known, spent the first three weeks in the notorious HMP Belmarsh, a high-security prison in South London, home to murderers, terrorists and some of Britain's most violent criminals.

On the last day of the trial, his mother dies, and the world's press accompany him to the funeral. On returning to prison, he's placed on the lifer's wing, where a cellmate sells his story to the tabloids. Prisoners and guards routinely line up outside his cell to ask for his autograph, to write letters, and to seek advice on their appeals.

For 22 days, Jeffrey was locked in a cell with a murderer and a drug baron. He decided to use that time to write an hour-by-hour diary, detailing the worst three weeks of his life.

When A Prison Diary was published in England, it was condemned by the prison authorities and praised by the critics.

1. Hell (2002)
   DAY 5 MONDAY 23 JULY 2001 5.53AM 'The sun is shining through the bars of my window on what must be a glorious summer day. I've been incarcerated in a cell five paces by three for twelve and a half hours, and will not be let out again until midday; eighteen and a half hours of solitary confinement. There is a child of seventeen in the cell below me who has been charged with shoplifting - his first offence, not even convicted - and he is being locked up for eighteen and a half hours, unable to speak to anyone. This is Great Britain in the twenty-first century, not Turkey, not Nigeria, not Kosovo, but Britain.' On Thursday 19 July 2001, after a perjury trial lasting seven weeks, Jeffrey Archer was sentenced to four years in jail. He was to spend the first twenty-two days and fourteen hours in HMP Belmarsh, a double A-Category high-security prison in South London, which houses some of Britain 's most violent criminals. This is the author's daily record of the time he spent there.

2. Purgatory (2003)
   On August 9, 2001, 22 days after Jeffrey -- now known as Prisoner FF8282 -- was sentenced to four years in prison for perjury, he was transferred from a maximum security prison in London to HMP Wayland, a medium security prison in Norfolk. For the next 67 days, as he waited to be reclassified for an "open," minimum security prison, he encountered not only the daily degradations of a dangerously overstretched prison system but also the spirit and courage of his fellow inmates.

3. Heaven (2004)
   Jeffrey's final volume in his trilogy of prison diaries covers the period of his transfer from a medium security prison, HMP Wayland, to his eventual release on parole in July 2003. It includes a shocking account of the traumatic time he spent in the notorious Lincoln jail and the events that led to his incarceration there, and also shines a harsh light on a system that is close to its breaking point.

   Told with humour, compassion and honesty, the diary closes with a thought-provoking manifesto that should be applauded by reform advocates and the prison population alike.

• A Quiver Full of Arrows (1980)
  This collection of 12 short stories will draw you into each story, whether it is "Old Love", the tale of two undergraduates at Oxford in the '30s and their bitter rivalry that ends in a memorable love story or "Broken Routine", which tells of an insurance claim advisor and his surprising encounter on the train home to Sevenoaks, or "Henry's Hiccup", the story of The Grand Pasha and how his plans for the most perfect honeymoon go awry.
  
  From The Grand Pasha to a British diplomat in China; a backgammon match to a one night stand, these stories will take you on a tour of ancient heirlooms and modern romance, of cutthroat business and kindly strangers, of lives lived in the realms of power and lives freed from the gloom of oppression. Fortunes are made and squandered, honour betrayed and redeemed, and love lost and rediscovered.
  
  This intricate web of tales prove that Jeffrey really is the master of storytelling.

• A Twist In The Tale (1989)
  No one can weave a web of suspense, deliver a jolt of surprise, or teach a lesson in living like bestselling author Jeffrey Archer. From Africa to the Middle East, and from London to Beijing, Archer takes us to places we've never seen and introduces us to people we'll never forget.
  
  Meet the philandering husband who thinks he's committed the perfect murder; the self-assured chess champion who plays a beautiful woman for stakes far higher than cash; and the finance minister who needs to crack the secrets of a Swiss bank. Jeffrey Archer's collection of twelve spellbinding stories will sweep you on a journey of thwarted ambition, undying passion, and unswerving honour that you'll never forget.

• Twelve Red Herrings (1994)
  Expect the unexpected...

  A wrongly convicted murderer exacts a flawless plan of revenge... Headlights in a rear-view mirror tail a female traveller on a lonely stretch of road... A serial bride secures her future by marrying only the wealthiest of men... An escaped Iraqi with a price on his head pays an involuntary visit to his homeland... A brush with death proves the biggest break of an aspiring artist's career...Two strangers, struck by lust-at-first-sight, consider a myriad of possibilities for where the day will take them.

  ... and you'll still be surprised.

  Because nothing is what it seems.

• The Collected Short Stories (1997)
  Millions of readers around the world have relished Jeffrey Archer's short stories. Now, for the first time, all three collections are gathered together in one handsome volume.

• To Cut a Long Story Short (2000)
  From the master storyteller comes a masterful collection of 14 riveting tales of elaborate confidence tricks, political chicanery, immoral behavior, and dangerously illicit affairs, rendered with the breathtaking narrative twists that have become the Jeffrey Archer hallmark.

• Cat O' Nine Tales (2006) with Ronald Searle
  O' Nine Tales is the fifth collection of irresistible short stories from the master storyteller. These yarns are ingeniously plotted, with richly drawn characters and deliciously unexpected conclusions, plus the added bonus of colour illustrations by the internationally acclaimed artist, Ronald Searle.

• Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1987)
  Jeffrey wrote his first play in 1987, following the General Election. It ran at the Queen's Theatre in London's West End for over 600 performances, with Frank Finlay and Wendy Craig in the lead roles.

  Accused of the wilful murder of his terminally ill wife, Sir David Metcalf finds himself locked in legal combat with his old rival, Anthony Blair-Booth QC. After a tense and gripping courtroom scene, Act I ends just as we are about to hear the jury's verdict. Act 11 takes us back in time to the fateful night of Lady Metcalfe's death and ends with a surprising twist.

• Exclusive (1989)
  Jeffrey's second play, which he wrote in 1989, ran at the Strand Theatre for 100 performances, and starred Paul Scofield, Eileen Atkins and Alec McCowen. This play is no longer available for production.

• The Accused (2000)
  The Accused is a tense courtroom drama with a difference. The audience will act as the jury, as if they were in the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey. You will have to decide...Did Dr Sherwood murder his wife? Was Jennifer Mitchell his mistress? Which of his alibis should you believe?
   

  The choice will keep you on the edge of your seats, and at the end of the trial you will be invited to deliver your verdict of guilty or not guilty. Once you have made that decision the play will continue - with one of two different endings, depending on your verdict. Only then will you finally discover the truth.

  The Accused was presented by Lee Menzies at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London on 5 December 2000, having received its world premiere perfomance at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, on 26 September, 2000. The play also starred Edward Petherbridge, Michael Feast and Tony Britton, with Jeffrey taking on his first West End role