City of gold vs The river line: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: World War II, Spy Fiction, Fiction
City of gold
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"The pace of the story is compulsive . . . it is a real pleasure to be swallowed up in Deighton's description of wartime Cairo."—Daily TelegraphJanuary 1942. Rommel, the fabled "Desert Fox," has pushed back the British…
The river line
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Includes the plays The River Line, The Flashing Stream and The Burning Glass Charles Morgan was a distinguished novelist before he moved onto stage drama, with his reputation as a major dramatist established by his…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The river line is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 10 for City of gold.
- City of gold has the widest readership — 1221 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| City of gold | The river line | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.6 (1221) | 3.6 (24) |
| Hardcover | 3.0 (1) | — |
Reception
| City of gold | The river line | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 1221 | 24 |
| Editions | 10 | 11 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 575 | — |
| Reading it now | 149 | — |
| Written reviews | 96 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 335 | 71 |
| Pages | 576 | 210 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: City of gold or The river line?
The river line has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The river line 3.7/5, City of gold 3.7/5).
Which is shorter to read: City of gold or The river line?
The river line is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The river line (210 pages, ≈ 3 h 53 m); City of gold (576 pages, ≈ 10 h 40 m).
Which is harder to read: City of gold or The river line?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — City of gold: Moderate; The river line: Challenging.