Agent Running in the Field: A BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club Pick - Softcover

Carré, John Le

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241986540 ISBN 13: 9780241986547

Publisher: Penguin, 2020

Synopsis

'The British spy thriller at its unputdownable best' Observer

SELECTED FOR BBC 2 BETWEEN THE COVERS
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Nat, a veteran of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, thinks his years as an agent runner are over. But MI6 have other plans. To tackle the growing threat from Moscow Centre, Nat is put in charge of The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. His weekly badminton session with the young, introspective, Brexit-hating Ed, offers respite from the new job. But it is Ed, of all unlikely people, who will take Nat down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all.
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'A rich, beautifully written book studded with surprises. Narrative is a black art, and Le Carré is its grandmaster' Spectator

'Blisteringly contemporary' Economist

'Subtle, wry and seamless, it's an utter joy, from first page to last' Daily Mail

'A very classy entertainment about political ideals and deception . . . laced with fury at the senseless vandalism of Brexit and of Trump' Guardian

'A fine piece of storytelling' Times

About this title

About the Author

John le Carré was born in 1931. For six decades, he wrote novels that came to define our age. The son of a confidence trickster, 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 12 December 2020. His posthumous novel, Silverview, was published in 2021.

From the Back Cover

Following his extraordinary novel of 2017, A Legacy of Spies, John le Carré has now turned his attention to the present in an exhilarating novel that confronts the division and rage at the heart of our modern world. Set in London in 2018, Agent Running in the Field follows a twenty-six-year-old solitary figure who, in a desperate attempt to resist the new political turbulence swirling around him, makes connections that will take him down a very dangerous path.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241986540
• ISBN 13: 9780241986547
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384