A Legacy of Spies

A late le Carré novel, which can be read as both a prequel and a sequel to The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. For the former, le Carré provides a lot of the context for why Smiley, Leamas et al did what they did prior to Leamas's end on the Berlin Wall. Regarding the latter, Peter Guillam (who is never as young and unwitting as he might have liked to make out) is recalled to London out of retirement and forced to provide his account for events fifty years prior. Guillam is like a man out of time in a world he no longer understands. Regardless of whether it is the past or present to which the reader is drawn, the joy of le Carré is the sheer verve of storytelling — the intrigue, deceit, red herrings and compulsion to get to the truth. It is a complex web, but a compelling one. There is also a poignant note to A Legacy of Spies when Guillam confronts Smiley and asks him to account for his past actions. He asserts he committed them “for Europe”. It is le Carré's rebuttal to the absurdity of Brexit. 9/10.

By John le Carré