Discover the Penguin books that shaped us

John le Carré reads his Espionage Classics

byJohn le Carré

Four Novel Collection including The Little Drummer Girl, A Perfect Spy, A Small Town in Germany and The Russia House

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Penguin Audio presents four gripping tales of espionage, written and read by John le Carre.

This collection includes the finest picks of his espionage classics, written between 1968 and 1989, and presents more than 15 hours of thrilling storytelling. It includes captivating adaptations of his classic novels The Little Drummer Girl, A Perfect Spy, A Small Town in Germany, and The Russia House. The Little Drummer Girl is a thrilling tale of espionage and deception, where actress Charlie is recruited by Israeli intelligence to infiltrate a Palestinian terrorist cell, leading to a dangerous game of cat and mouse. A Perfect Spy follows the complex life of Magnus Pym, a British intelligence officer whose troubled childhood and intricate web of lies unravel as he goes missing, prompting a search that reveals deep secrets and betrayals. In A Small Town in Germany, set against the backdrop of Cold War tensions, British embassy staffer Leo Harting disappears in Bonn, Germany, with sensitive documents, leading to a frantic search that uncovers political intrigue and espionage. In The Russia House, British publisher Barley Blair becomes an unlikely spy when he receives a manuscript containing Soviet military secrets, thrusting him into a world of danger and deception as he navigates the treacherous waters of international espionage.

About John le Carré

John le Carré was born in 1931. For six decades, he wrote novels that came to define our age. The son of a confidence trickster, he spent his childhood between boarding school and the London underworld. At sixteen he found refuge at the University of Bern, then later at Oxford. A spell of teaching at Eton led him to a short career in British Intelligence (MI5 & 6). He published his debut novel, Call for the Dead, in 1961 while still a secret servant. His third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, secured him a worldwide reputation, which was consolidated by the acclaim for his trilogy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People. At the end of the Cold War, le Carré widened his scope to explore an international landscape including the arms trade and the War on Terror. His memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel, was published in 2016 and the last George Smiley novel, A Legacy of Spies, appeared in 2017. He died on 12 December 2020. His posthumous novel, Silverview, was published in 2021.
Details
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • ISBN: 9781837313006
  • Length: 1020 minutes
  • Price: £16.00