John le Carré: A Private Spy (UK 2023)

From the Publisher:
A Private Spy spans seven decades and chronicles not only le Carré's own life but the turbulent times to which he was witness. Beginning with his 1940s childhood, it includes accounts of his National Service and his time at Oxford, and his days teaching the 'chinless, pointy-nosed gooseberry-eyed British lords' at Eton. It describes his entry into MI5 and the rise of the Iron Curtain, and the flowering of his career as a novelist in reaction to the building of the Berlin Wall. Through his letters we travel with him from the Second World War period to the immediate moment in which we live. We find le Carré writing to Sir Alec Guinness to persuade him to take on the role of George Smiley, and later arguing the immorality of the War on Terror with the chief of the German internal security service. What emerges is a portrait not only of the writer, or of the global intellectual, but, in his own words, of the very private, very passionate and very real man behind the name.

John le Carré: A Private Spy. The Letters of John le Carré. Edited by Tim Cornwell. Penguin, ISBN: 9780241994559 (June, 2023), 713 p., £12.99.

John le Carré: A Private Spy (USA 2022)

From the Publisher:
An archive of letters written by the late John le Carré, giving readers access to the intimate thoughts of one of the greatest writers of our time
The never-before-seen correspondance of John le Carré, one of the most important novelists of our generation, are collected in this beautiful volume. During his lifetime, le Carré wrote numerous letters to writers, spies, politicians, artists, actors and public figures. This collection is a treasure trove, revealing the late author’s humour, generosity, and wit -- a side of him many readers have not previously seen.

John le Carré: A Private Spy. The Letters of John le Carré. Viking, ISBN: 9780593490679 (November, 2022), 352 p., $30.00.

John le Carré: A Private Spy (UK 2022)

From the Publisher:
A collection of letters from John le Carré, one of the greatest British novelists of our time, and a fabulous letter writer, spanning decades from his childhood, to the Cold War to his final years

John le Carré was one of the greatest novelists of his generation. He also had an extraordinary life. A Private Spy is the story of that life told through the voice of this masterful writer.

We hear le Carré as a teenager and then as a young man trying to make his way in the world. There are beautiful and moving letters to le Carré's stepmother about his relationship with his fraudster father. There are letters about his first marriage and letters to his children. There are wonderfully vivid letters to great actors and great writers. There are brilliantly sharp and very funny portraits of politicians and public figures. And throughout the collection there is the clear, inimitable voice of this magnificent writer.

By turns intimate and comic, tender and clear-sighted A Private Spy offers a rare and illuminating portrait of one of the great figures of our times.

John le Carré: A Private Spy. The Letters of John le Carré 1945 - 2020. Edited by Tim Cornwell. Viking, ISBN: 9780241550090 (November, 2022), 400 p., £25.00, eBook £12.99.