The classic Cold War thriller, published as a Penguin Essential for the first time.

Alec 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 Carre'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.

'Superbly constructed, with an atmosphere of chilly hell' J.B. Priestley

'The best spy story I have ever read' Graham Greene

'The master storyteller ... has lost none of his cunning' A. N. Wilson

'I have re-read The Spy Who Came In From The Cold over and over again since I first encountered it in my teens, just to remind myself how extraordinary a work of fiction can be' Malcolm Gladwell

'One of those very rare novels that changes the way you look at the world. Unflinching, highly sophisticated, superb' William Boyd

The Cold War is at its most chill. Alec Leamas, a seasoned British Intelligence officer whose entire East German network has been arrested or shot, leaves West Berlin for London, believing his career is over.

About the Author
John le Carre was born in 1931. For six decades, he wrote novels that came to define our age. The son of a confidence trickster, he spent his childhood between boarding school and the London underworld. At sixteen he found refuge at the University of Bern, then later at Oxford. A spell of teaching at Eton led him to a short career in British Intelligence (MI5 & 6). He published his debut novel, Call for the Dead, in 1961 while still a secret servant. His third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, secured him a worldwide reputation, which was consolidated by the acclaim for his trilogy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People. At the end of the Cold War, le Carre widened his scope to explore an international landscape including the arms trade and the War on Terror. His memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel, was published in 2016 and the last George Smiley novel, A Legacy of Spies, appeared in 2017. He died on 12 December 2020. His posthumous novel, Silverview, was published in 2021.

Reviews
Passionate, intense, wonderful -- David Nicholls
The best spy story I have ever read -- Graham Greene
A masterpiece, the best espionage novel ever written -- John Banville
One of those writers who will be read a century from now -- Robert Harris



Book Information
ISBN 9780241978955
Author John le Carre
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 151g
Dimensions(mm) 181mm * 111mm * 17mm