Summary of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
In the classic Cold War spy novel “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”, George Smiley – a retired British intelligence officer – is called back into service to uncover a Soviet mole within the British Secret Intelligence Service in London, during the early 1970s.
Reasons to read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
British author John le Carré was a master of the espionage novel, with most of his work set during the Cold War. His books rank among the finest in the genre. Le Carré’s central character, the unglamorous George Smiley, was conceived as a contrast to Ian Fleming’s James Bond. Drawing on his own experiences working for MI5 (the British Security Service) and MI6 (the British Secret Intelligence Service), le Carré brought a realism and psychological depth to spy fiction that set his work apart. “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” was followed by “The Honourable Schoolboy” and “Smiley’s People”, together forming the “Karla Trilogy”. The novel was adapted into a television series in the 1970s and a film in 2011. In 2022, it was selected for the “Big Jubilee Read” – a list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors celebrating the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Other notable works by le Carré include “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”, “A Perfect Spy”, and “The Constant Gardener”.
Setting: London (England, UK)
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” is set in London, chiefly around the fictional MI6 headquarters placed by John le Carré at Cambridge Circus, a location MI6 has never actually occupied.
Original title: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Year of publication: 1974
Nr of pages: 416
