The Bodleian Library in Oxford holds the archive of John le Carré. A new exhibition of materials from the archive is opening at the Weston Library (1st October 2025 - 6th April 2026). This book is published alongside.

John le Carré is one of the most significant political novelists in the English language. His early career in the secret service took him to West Germany at the height of the Cold War and subsequent novels prompted field trips all over the world, from Hong Kong to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He conducted hundreds of interviews with privileged observers, from freedom fighters to spies, bankers and gangsters.

In this book, collaborators and friends take us behind the scenes to give original insights into le Carré’s extraordinary observational writing techniques, revealing his unique ‘tradecraft’ as a writer. His striving for artistic truth and historical precision is presented here through the words of those who worked alongside him, together with an analysis of the novels, which so often captured the zeitgeist. 

Illustrated with manuscript pages, family photographs, film stills and correspondence, this book provides a multifaceted portrait of the working life and legacy of a great writer.