The undisputed master of the espionage genreโone of our greatest living writersโtells his life story for the first time.
Though John le Carrรฉ 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 experiencesโuntil 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 Carrรฉ 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 Carrรฉ 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 heโs 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 Smileyโs 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 Carrรฉโs fascinating life written in the authorโs own words.
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