City of gold vs XPD: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: World War II, World War, 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…
XPD
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“A stunning spy story… incomparable.” – The GuardianIt’s 1979, and a group of former SS officers are devising a plan to seize power in West Germany. XPD is a brilliant novel constructed around a supposition that…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- XPD is the quickest read — about 8 hours vs 10 for City of gold.
- XPD has the widest readership — 2304 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| City of gold | XPD | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.6 (1221) | 3.8 (2304) |
| Hardcover | 3.0 (1) | 3.3 (6) |
Reception
| City of gold | XPD | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 1221 | 2304 |
| Editions | 10 | 31 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 575 | 797 |
| Reading it now | 149 | 79 |
| Written reviews | 96 | 75 |
| Wikipedia attention | 335 | 272 |
| Pages | 576 | 450 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: City of gold or XPD?
XPD has the higher combined reader rating across sources (XPD 3.8/5, City of gold 3.7/5).
Which is shorter to read: City of gold or XPD?
XPD is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: XPD (450 pages, ≈ 8 h 20 m); City of gold (576 pages, ≈ 10 h 40 m).
Which is harder to read: City of gold or XPD?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — City of gold: Moderate; XPD: Demanding.