Understanding John Le Carre (Understanding Contemporary British Literature)

This text provides an introduction to a writer who is arguably 20th-century England's most successful serious novelist and one of the foremost living figure in English literature of espionage and detection. The author aims to establish that le Carre's fiction transcends the genre of espionage writing, and that he is pre-eminently a social commentator who writes novels of manners. He analyzes each of le Carre's novels, placing special emphasis on the George Smiley novels, "The Spy Who Came In from the Cold", "The Little Drummer Girl" and "A Perfect Spy". Of particular interest, he discusses the "post-Cold War" works, including "The Night Manager", "Our Game" and "The Tailor of Rome". In addition to providing a critical overview of le Carre's career, John L. Cobbs offers a biographical sketch in which he describes le Carre's often overlooked academic success and reputation as one who once worked in British intelligence, perhaps as a spy.