Alec Leamas is tired. It´s the 1960s, he´s been out in the cold for years, spying in the shadow of the Berlin Wall for the British masters. Now Control wants to bring him in at last - but only after one final assignment. He must travel deep into the heart of Communist Germany and betray his country, a job that he will do with his usual cynical professionalism. But when George Smiley tries to help a young woman Leamas has befriended, it may prove the worst thing he could ever have done.

Le Carré´s breakthrough work of 1963 was an award-winning number one global bestseller and brought him international renown, redefining the spy story as a gritty and terrible tale of men who care caught up in politics beyond their imagining.