Le Carre's voice - patrician, cold, brilliant and amused - was perfect for the wilderness-of-mirrors undertow of the Cold War, and George Smiley is the all-time harassed bureaucrat of spy fiction.

Lieu squeezed his eyes closed tightly and mumbled “My country’s war will soon be visited upon yours…” and suddenly jerked his hands from his pockets- releasing the striking levers on the two M26 fragmentation grenades. “For the disciples of Saiophong!

The Cold War is over but Cold War thinking survives.

With stealth technology, the U.S. could spy on its Cold War adversaries without running the risk of getting caught.

The spy who came in from the cold.

Most of these people are not going anywhere, and have nothing meaningful to do. They are zombies seeking purpose in an environment that cannot provide it. This is why, at the slightest public commotion, they quickly form their mobs, like a swarm of flies seeking shit on which to settle. But I did not come here to give a lecture. I came here to look for you.