British agent George Smiley hunts for a mole in the Secret Service and begins his epic game of international chess with his Soviet counterpart, an agent named Karla.

"The undisputed master returns with a riveting new book--his first Smiley novel in more than twenty-five years. Peter Guillam, staunch colleague and disciple of George Smiley of the British Secret Service, otherwise known as the Circus, is living out his old age on the family farmstead on the south coast of Brittany when a letter from his old Service summons him to London. The reason? His Cold War past has come back to claim him. Intelligence operations...

"No doubt remains; a mole has infiltrated the highest level of the Circus, code name for British Secret Intelligence Service. Sidelined agent George Smiley is covertly tapped to root out the mole, a task that requires a painstaking dig through the labyrinths of Cold War-era espionage and his own past."--Container.

Provides in-depth analysis of the life, works, career, and critical importance of John le Carre.