THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD

'''The Spy Who Came in from the Cold''' is a 1963 espionage novel by John le Carré, adapted into a 1965 film starring Richard Burton.
The novel received good reviews and was a best seller. In 2005 it was listed as one of TIME's All-TIME 100 Greatest Novels.
It was recently voted the best spy novel of all-time, just ahead of Robert Ludlum's ''The Bourne Identity'', by ''Publishers Weekly'' [1], [2]

Contents

Plot introduction

Plot summary

Characters in "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold"

Awards

Trivia

Quotes

Footnotes

Plot introduction

It is a spy novel based on the Cold War period of East/West "bloc" tensions. Based primarily in Eastern Europe it follows the character of Alec Leamas.

Plot summary

It tells the story of Alec Que Leamas, a British spy who is part of an elaborate plot to kill the East German spymaster Mundt.
The Berlin office under Leamas has not been doing well. One of their best double agents, Karl Riemeck, was gunned down at the border, probably on the orders of the head of the East German spy section, Mundt. Leamas is called back to England for one last job: to "turn" over to the communists himself and get close enough to Mundt to kill him. To do this, he acts as if he's been disgraced -- drinks a lot, assaults a grocer, and lands in jail -- so as to appear ripe for recruiting by the other side. During this stage, he also gets to know a sweet innocent girl named Liz Gold who happens to belong to the Communist Party in Britain. Sure enough, Leamas is approached in England, taken to Holland, and then to East Germany. But there's a hitch: Mundt's second in command, Fiedler, believes Mundt may be a double agent working for Leamas's superiors in England, so he stages a hearing where Leamas is a captive witness. Liz Gold, invited to the East on a communist information exchange program, is unwittingly the star witness. She is both loyal to the communists and to Leamas - does she lie about her relationship with Leamas or tell the truth, and does she even know the horrible consequences of either course of action?

Characters in "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold"

★ Alec Leamas: The British spy in the centre of this web of intrigue.

★ Mundt: Leader of the East German Spy Agency and Leamas's nemesis.

★ Fiedler: Communist spy, Second in Command to Mundt

★ Liz Gold: English librarian and member of the Communist Party (renamed Nan Perry for the film)

★ Control: Leader of British Intelligence

★ George Smiley: British spy

Awards

Le Carré's book won a 1964 Gold Dagger award from the British Crime Writers Association for Best Crime Novel. One year later the US edition was awarded the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Mystery Novel. It was the first work to win the award for Best Novel from both mystery writing organizations. Screenwriters Dehn and Trosper received an Edgar the following year for Best Motion Picture Screenplay for an American Movie. In 2005, the fiftieth anniversary of the Dagger Awards, ''The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'' was awarded the "Dagger of Daggers," a one-time only award given to the Golden Dagger winner regarded as the stand-out among all fifty winners over the history of CWA.

Trivia

An episode of the television series '', "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges", was very similar in theme and plot.
The title was spoofed in the 1965 comedy film ''The Spy with a Cold Nose'', the title of an episode of the 1960s television series, ''The Monkees'', "The Spy Who Came in from the Cool", and in the DangerMouse episode ''The Spy Who Stayed in with a Cold''. The 1990s television series ''Power Rangers Zeo'' had an episode entitled "The Ranger Who Came in From the Gold."

Quotes

"It is the best spy story I have ever read." (Graham Greene) ^[1]

"Very disappointing. It was a relief to read a somewhat sophisticated spy-story after all that James Bond idiocy, and there are some well-thought out passages. But the whole plot from beginning to end is basically implausible, and the implausibility keeps on obtruding itself - at any rate, to anyone who has any real knowledge of the business!" (Kim Philby) ^[2]

"A topical and terrible story...he can communicate emotion, from sweating fear to despairing love, with terse and compassionate conviction. Above all, he can tell a tale. Formidable equipment for a rare and disturbing writer" (The Sunday Times)

Footnotes

1. The Manhattan Rare Book Company (2005). John Le Carre: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, First Edition. Retrieved January 23, 2006.
2. Kim Philby: The Spy I Loved (1967), Eleanor Philby