Any good Cold War-era Spy books?

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre is a great one, it's not full of action but it does get you on edge.

John le Carré has already been mentioned thrice, and for a good reason. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is probably as good a starting point as any, very strong stuff (and more realistic than James Bonds).

Len Deighton has lots of rough and tumble action compared to LeCarre or Ian Fleming. LeCarre will basically tell you all about the bureaucracy of intelligence work, and Ian Fleming will basically tell you what brand of X someone is using/wearing.

The Game, Set, Match trilogy is a perfect place to start for Deighton.

If you are also or more looking for assassins, mercenaries, terrorists and coup plots check out Frederick Forsyth, Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy.

EDIT: Haven't read any yet but there's a French author named Gérard de Villiers that does the SAS series which is very popular internationally, not sure how easy it they will be to find though.

I really love John Lecarre and all his smiley books. Highly recommend them.

And this isn't a spy story but nevertheless its about cold war era moscow and I dug it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorky_Park_%28novel%29

The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy.

The very obvious one is Ian Flemming.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, John Le Carre's Karla book,Ian Flemings James Bond series ( not as good as Le Carre's but a decent read).

Helen MacInnes

Joseph Hone

For action try Alistair MacLean--Circus, When Eight Bells Toll, Ice Station Zebra, Bear Island, The Secret Ways

Also WWII as opposed to Cold War but Alan Furst is great

Try 'The Company' by Robert Littell. Charles McCarry is another, and I think all of his books are Cold War-era. 'Tears of Autumn' would be a good start. And le Carre, of course, but his pessimism can sometimes beat you down.

Child 44, brilliant book!

Code to Zero by Ken Follett it a fantastic read. It is set in the late 1950's with a lot of impending nuclear destruction/spy game-type action. I remember not being able to put it down.