Over the past twenty years, American author Daniel Silva has written seventeen novels about a Mossad operative named Gabriel Allon, offering readers a glimpse into the stresses faced by those dedicated to preserving the Israeli state. National security for Israel is both offensive and defensive, and Allon and his Mossad colleagues around the world operationalize covert actions of both types. As an analysis of Silva’s novels shows, covert-action fiction is an under-appreciated method of acquiring greater comprehension of global security.

Brian Champion is a senior librarian at the HBLL, with responsibility for political science, economics, and government documents.