John le Carré

David John Moore Cornwell (aka John Le Carré) (19 October 1931 - 12 December 2020) was a renowned British spy and espionage novellst.

 

During the 1950s and 1960s, he worked for both the MI5, Britain's domestic-focused Security Service; and Mi6, foreign Intelligence, bringing that experlence to bear in his novel writing. In his espionage books, Le Carré created the fictional institution called "the Circus", representative of MI5 and MI6.; and at the same time creating the famous spymaster character, "George Smiley".

 

A number of Le Carre's books focus on the fear and uncertainty of the Cold War period. Le Carre's book, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy", perhaps leaning on real life shadowy figures, such as, the British spy, Kim Philby who was one of the Cambridge five, a Soviet spy ring recruited by the NKVD (predecessor of the KGB). After Philby was exposed as a traitor he fled to Moscow In 1963.

 

Le Carre's third novel, "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold", really kicked off his full-time writing career after the book became an international bestseller, spending 32 weeks at number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

 

A number of his novels have been adapted into films and television series.

 

Many consider Le Carré to be one of the greatest novelists of the postwar WWII era.

 

Le Carré was nominated for may awards, although he declined a number of them.