John le Carré
‘I did not let Kim Philby go. He gave me the slip’: what an MI6 spy told me over lunch
A new TV series highlights the part played by the UK intelligence service’s Nicholas Elliott in unmasking the 1960s Cambridge spy ring – events he recalled years later over lunch at his club
William Keegan
31, Dec, 2022 @3:00 PM
Top 10 books about the iron curtain
The dividing line between capitalism and communism which descended across Europe after the second world war inspired spy writers and historians, polemicists and memoirists
Timothy Phillips
28, Dec, 2022 @12:00 PM
A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carré 1945-2020 review – missives accomplished
An extraordinary collection of his letters reveals the secretive spy novelist’s loves and laments
Blake Morrison
27, Oct, 2022 @6:30 AM
David Farr: ‘The 60s generation created the most selfish age there has ever been’
In his new play, the screenwriter and author investigates ideas of individualism, sexual freedom and mortality through a woman who recreates herself as a cyborg
Claire Armitstead
21, Oct, 2022 @1:00 PM
A Private Spy, edited by Tim Cornwell; The Secret Heart by Suleika Dawson review – John le Carré laid bare
An enjoyable collection of le Carré’s letters reveals a tetchy but warm man who strove to keep his books topical, while a former lover’s memoir leaves little unsaid
Anthony Cummins
16, Oct, 2022 @6:00 AM
‘The Russian Bond is on his way’: exclusive extracts from the letters of John le Carré
Former spy David Cornwell, best known as John le Carré, was a bestselling novelist but also a prolific letter-writer. Here we publish extracts from his correspondence with Alec Guinness, Graham Greene, Tom Stoppard and others
08, Oct, 2022 @9:00 AM
‘Each envelope was a treasure’: how I became le Carré’s friend and reader
We communicated by hand-delivered letters, occasionally accompanied by a manuscript
Philippe Sands
08, Oct, 2022 @9:00 AM
First editions annotated by Le Carré and Mantel to be auctioned
Other writers who have added handwritten thoughts for sale in support of English PEN include Ian McEwan and Margaret Atwood
Harriet Sherwood Arts and culture correspondent
02, Jun, 2022 @12:48 PM
Top 10 novels about postwar Germany | Martin Goodman
Writers from John le Carré to Heinrich Böll and Bernard Schlink explore how the guilt and traumas of war are passed down to succeeding generations
Martin Goodman
13, Apr, 2022 @11:00 AM
I’m thrilled we’ll get to read John le Carré’s letters – but what can this dying art reveal? | Stephanie Merritt
We like to think private correspondence reveals all, but the truth is a lot more complicated
Stephanie Merritt
27, Mar, 2022 @7:30 AM
‘We are back in his company’: le Carré returns in a revealing collection of private letters
The author airs his views in posthumously published exchanges with family, friends and celebrity fans
Lucy Knight
23, Mar, 2022 @5:54 PM
Five of the best crime and thrillers of 2021
Final novels from John le Carré and Andrea Camilleri, dark psychological debut Girl A and more
Laura Wilson
02, Dec, 2021 @9:00 AM
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