Cover of Spy Who Came in from the Cold

Spy Who Came in from the Cold

by John le Carré

4.1
(352 ratings)
George Smiley #3304 pages1963Penguin Books, LimitedISBN 9780241771037
ClassicsWarAdventureThrillerSpyA mix drivenWeak Character DevelopmentLoveable CharactersDiverse CharactersA mix drivenWeak Character DevelopmentLoveable CharactersDiverse CharactersAdventureSpyViolencemysteriousA mix drivenWeak Character DevelopmentUnloveable CharactersNot Diverse CharactersFictionAdventure storiesmysteriousA mix drivenStrong Character DevelopmentUnloveable CharactersNot Diverse CharactersIntelligence serviceCold WarBerlin (Germany)Berlin Wall Berlin Germany
darktensefastdarktensefastdarktensemediumdarktensemediumAdventurousdarktensemedium
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About this book

Alex Leamas is tired. It's the 1960s, he's been out in the cold for years, spying in Berlin for his British masters, and has seen too many good agents murdered for their troubles. Now Control wants to bring him in at last - but only after one final assignment. He must travel deep into the heart of Communist Germany and betray his country, a job that he will do with his usual cynical professionalism. But when George Smiley tries to help a young woman Leamas has befriended, Leamas's mission may prove to be the worst thing he could ever have done. In le Carré's breakthrough work of 1963, the spy story is reborn as a gritty and terrible tale of men who are caught up in politics beyond their imagining. With a new introduction by William Boyd and an afterword by Le Carré himself.

Publication Details

Publisher
Penguin Books, Limited
Published
1963
Pages
304
ISBN
9780241771037
Language
en

About John le Carré

David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 1931 – 12 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré was a British Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. A "sophisticated, morally ambiguous writer", he is considered one of the greatest novelists of the postwar era. During the 1950s and 1960s, he worked for both the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Near the end of his life, due to his strong disapproval of Brexit, he took out Irish citizenship, which was possible due to his having an Irish grandparent. Le Carré's third novel, *The Spy Who Came in from the Cold* (1963), became an international best-seller, was adapted as an award-winning film, and remains one of his best-known works. This success allowed him to leave MI6 to become a full-time author.[4] His novels which have been adapted for film or television include *The Looking Glass War* (1965), *Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy* (1974, 2011), *Smiley's People* (1979), *The Little Drummer Girl* (1983), *The Night Manager* (1993), *The Tailor of Panama* (1996), *The Constant Gardener* (2001), *A Most Wanted Man* (2008) and *Our Kind of Traitor* (2010). Philip Roth said that *A Perfect Spy* (1986) was "the best English novel since the war".

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