Other editions of book The Looking Glass War

When the Department - faded since the war and busy only with bureaucratic battles - hears rumour of a missile base near the West German border, it seems like the perfect opportunity to regain some political standing in the Intelligence market place. The Cold War is at its height and the Department is dying for a piece of the action. Swiftly becoming carried away by fear and pride, the Department and her officers send deactivated agent Fred Leiser back into East Germany, armed only with some schoolboy training and his memories of the war. In the land of eloquent silence that is Communist East Germany, Leiser's fate becomes inseparable from the Department's.

When word reaches The Department an ailing section of British military intelligence that Soviet missiles are being installed close to the West German border, it seems the perfect opportunity to show Control and Smiley, their rivals over at the Circus, that The Department still has value.Former spy Fred Leiser is lured back from retirement to investigate, and manages to cross the border into East Germany in a dangerous nighttime operation. But the world has changed since The Department s glory days during the Second World War. The harsh realities of the Cold War now prevail, and there is no place for heroes."

It would have been an easy job for the Circus: a can of film couriered from Helsinki to London. In the past the Circus handled all things political, while the Department dealt with matters military. But the Department has been moribund since the War, its resources siphoned away. Now, one of their agents is dead, and vital evidence verifying the presence of Soviet missiles near the West German border is gone. John Avery is the Department's younger member and its last hope. Charged with handling Fred Leiser, a German-speaking Pole left over from the War, Avery must infiltrate the East and restore his masters' former glory. John le Carré's The Looking Glass War is a scorching portrayal of misplaced loyalties and innocence lost.

When word reaches The Department an ailing section of British military intelligence that Soviet missiles are being installed close to the West German border, it seems the perfect opportunity to show Control and Smiley, their rivals over at the Circus, that The Department still has value.Former spy Fred Leiser is lured back from retirement to investigate, and manages to cross the border into East Germany in a dangerous nighttime operation. But the world has changed since The Department s glory days during the Second World War. The harsh realities of the Cold War now prevail, and there is no place for heroes."