His works have always been characterized by a painstaking attention to detail, both technical and otherwise; a concern with the illusions that obscure reality; and the depiction of the double- and triple-crosses of espionage. Consistent in them is a disdain for the pretensions and snobbery of "old boy" networks, Oxford and Cambridge graduates, and upper-class English society in general. Deighton's works critically and closely examine the ethics and morality of the shadowy world of espionage. At the same time they investigate—with humor and forgiveness—the nature of man, the experiences, the values, the loyalties, and the betrayals that make him what he is. Deighton has a sound understanding of human behavior. His characters are usually well rounded, his plots intricately developed though elliptic and challenging, and his concerns sophisticated and humanistic. His most recent works are stylistically much better than his first.
Leonard Cyril Deighton was born in Marylebone, London, England, on 18 February 1929, of Anglo-Irish parentage. His father was a chauffeur, and his mother was the cook of Campbell Dodgson, the keeper of prints and drawings at the British Museum. Deighton attended Marylebone Grammar School, playing hooky to attend plays and visit museums whenever possible.
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