The undisputed master of the espionage genre—one of our
greatest living writers—tells his life story for the first
time.
Though John le Carré has spoken widely about his work and
the numerous film and television adaptations thereof, he has
always been less inclined to speak about his own life
experiences—until now.
From his years serving in British intelligence during the
Cold War to a career as a writer that took him from war-torn
Cambodia to Beirut on the cusp of the 1982 Israeli invasion
to Russia before and after the collapse of the Berlin Wall,
le Carré has been at the center of many of the key conflicts
and political shifts of the last seven decades. In this
series of fascinating vignettes, le Carré is as funny as he
is incisive, reading into the world events he witnessed the
same moral ambiguity with which he imbues his novels.
Whether he’s writing about the parrot at a Beirut hotel that
could perfectly mimic machine gun fire; visiting Rwanda just
after the genocide; the courageous female aid worker who
inspired the main character in The Constant Gardener; or his
friendship with Alec Guinness, the star of the legendary BBC
adaptations of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley’s
People, he brings the reader into each new scene with his
characteristic deftness and flair, at once entertaining us
and making us think anew about events and situations we
believed we understood.
Offering a rare window into the life and work of a master,
The Pigeon Tunnel is an instant classic; the only account of
John le Carré’s fascinating life written in the author’s own
words.