Books with title Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor

First published in 1974, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY is very probably John le Carre's masterpiece. Like Grahame Greene, le Carre transcends the spy genre, writing novels that rank among the most critically acclaimed fiction of the late 20th Century. By no means a one-dimenional thriller, TINKER is a subtle, gripping novel that derives suspense from its moral and psychological complexity. Its spies are distinct individuals caught in a web of international Cold-War intrigue--from the protagonist Smiley, recalling his days as an agent "living with terror in his mouth, naked to every stranger's glance," to every spy, friend and enemy, whom Smiley encounters: all human casualties of a dangerous profession. This Folio Society edition of TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY is bound in buckram and blocked with a design by illustrator Tim Laing, whose atmospheric interior drawings brilliantly portray le Carre's shadowy world.

Smiley and his people are facing a remarkable challenge: a mole - a soviet double agent - who has burrowed his way in and up to the highest level of British Intelligence. His treachery has already blown some of their vital operations and their best networks. The mole is one of their own kind. But which one? "His people are full-bodied, believable individuals, the minor characters as vivid as the main cast ...a stunning story' The Wall Street Journal

A #1 New York Times Best-Seller This is the first book of John le Carre's 'Karla trilogy' and features British master spy George Smiley. Somewhere at the very highest levels of British Intelligence there stands a double agent, a 'mole,' implanted deep in its fabric, perhaps decades ago, by Moscow Centre. He can only be one of five men--brilliant, complicated men, proven in action--who have worked closely together through the years, respecting and depending on each other, despite the central imperative of their profession to trust no one. Of these five, it is George Smiley, perhaps the most brilliant and complicated of them all, who is tapped to dig out the mole and destroy him. And so Smiley embarks on his blind night walk, retracing path after path into his own past--its aliases, covers, sleights of hand--burrowing into the dust of unresolved episodes. John le Carre's classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and knowledge and have earned him--and his hero, British Secret Service agent George Smiley--unprecedented worldwide acclaim.