[solid copy, slight dust-darkening to top edge, top of spine lightly bumped/faded, faint bookseller's stamp on front pastedown; jacket worn along hinges, a few tiny tears/chips, slight paper loss at top of spine and at a couple of corners, old price sticker on rear flap]. The author's first novel, set in Germany during the Allied occupation immediately following World War II, and dealing with conflicts between the members of a British Intelligence Unit. The author was the devoted husband of the late Iris Murdoch, whose literary fame ultimately eclipsed his own, and has published a pair of moving memoirs ("Elegy for Iris" and "Iris and Her Friends") of their years together.