Back in 1963, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold made its pseudonymous author, John le Carré , a worldwide publishing sensation. Since then, le Carré has produced another twenty-one bestselling novels. A master at weaving fiction with fact, le Carré creates complex protagonists who expose tantalizing glimpses into the author’ s own character. But appearances are deceptive. The real truth is that David Cornwell, the man behind the pseudonym and one of the world’ s most celebrated writers, has remained an enigma for more than half a century.
In this authoritative biography short-listed for the 2016 Pen Award, Adam Sisman explores how the central themes of Cornwell’ s life defined his fiction. From his lonely, “ hugless” childhood to his early recruitment by British intelligence and the evolution of his spycraft, to his fraught roles as husband and family man, Cornwell’ s personal history encompasses the basic questions at the heart of his work: What does espionage mean in human terms? To what extent is betrayal acceptable in the name of love? How does a person manage the endless need for forgiveness, especially from oneself?
Written with exclusive access to David Cornwell, his private archive, and his family, friends, enemies, ex-intelligence colleagues, and ex-lovers— and featuring a wealth of previously unseen photographic material— Sisman’ s biography at last brings in from the cold a man whose life has been as complex, confounding, and filled with treachery as any of his novels.
