<p><b>A gripping tragicomedy of a bungled kidnapping in a provincial Argentinean town, considered to be one of Greene''s finest novels.</b><br><br>Charley Fortnum is the ''Honorary Consul'', a whisky-sodden figure of dubious authority taken by a group of rebels. As Eduardo Plarr, a local doctor, negotiates with revolutionaries and the authorities for Fortnum''s release, the corruption of both becomes evident. In this spare, tense novel, Graham Greene explores the morality of a political system that turns priests into killers.<br><br>WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY NICHOLAS SHAKESPEARE<br><br>''Perhaps the most enduring novel that even he has give us'' <i>Daily Mail</i></p>