# The Spy Who Came in from the Cold - Hardcover

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by **John Le Carré** (Author), **Coralie Bickford-Smith**

**From the master of spy thrillers, John le Carré's _The Spy Who Came in from the Cold_ is a gripping story of love and betrayal at the height of the Cold War, now a Penguin Clothbound Classic designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith**

Alec Leamas is tired. It's the 1960s, he's been out in the cold for years, spying in the shadow of the Berlin Wall for his British masters. He has seen too many good agents murdered for their troubles. Now Control wants to bring him in at last -- but only after one final assignment. He must travel deep into the heart of Communist Germany and betray his country, a job that he will do with his usual cynical professionalism. But when George Smiley tries to help a young woman Leamas has befriended, Leamas's mission may prove to be the worst thing he could ever have done. In le Carré's breakthrough work of 1963, the spy story is reborn as a gritty and terrible tale of men who are caught up in politics beyond their imagining.

Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

### Author Biography

John le Carré was born in 1931. For six decades, he wrote novels that came to define our age. The son of a con man, 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 December 12, 2020.

**Number of Pages:** 304

**Dimensions:** 0.8 x 7.9 x 5.2 IN

**Publication Date:** June 02, 2026

## Details

- **Price:** 37.0 GBP
- **Vendor:** BooksCloud
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books, Espionage, Fiction, Historical, International Crime & Mystery, Mystery & Detective, Price Written on Book, Thrillers

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 37.00 GBP | In stock |

## Images

- The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

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> Updated: 2026-08-22