A Legacy of Spies

By: John le Carré

Narrated by: Tom Hollander

Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Penguin presents the unabridged downloadable audiobook edition of A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré, read by Tom Hollander. This is the first novel in over 25 years to feature George Smiley, le Carré's most beloved character.

Peter Guillam, staunch colleague and disciple of George Smiley of the British Secret Service, otherwise known as the Circus, is living out his old age on the family farmstead on the south coast of Brittany when a letter from his old Service summons him to London. The reason? His Cold War past has come back to claim him. Intelligence operations that were once the toast of secret London and involved such characters as Alec Leamas, Jim Prideaux, George Smiley and Peter Guillam himself are to be scrutinised under disturbing criteria by a generation with no memory of the Cold War and no patience with its justifications.

Interweaving past with present so that each may tell its own intense story, John le Carré has spun a single plot as ingenious and thrilling as the two predecessors on which it looks back: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

©2017 John le Carré (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Circus Aficionados Will Love It

Spans the whole life of the Circus, from wartime SOE to the present day. At his literary best, Le Carre recalls his cast of characters, telling new stories and filling in the gaps between the familiar tales. Thrilled me, but only leaves me yearning for more.

A foot note to a legacy

The entire novel reads like a wrapping up of a legacy, whether it's John lecarre's or George smiley's is not a mutually exclusive question. A legacy of spies is at stake and Tom Hollander performs rather than just narrate this book as the fans can reminiscence all that has went before.

I would recommend reading 'The spy who came in from the cold' and 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' before reading this book. It's not a necessity but you will be missing the gravity and depth of the story.

I don’t know

Maybe this book is necessary. Years after, it discloses the aftermath of Tinker, Taylor and of The Spy Who Came In… Mund remains as inscrutable as ever.

A great revisit of a smiley classic

with out giving any spoilers, you are far better off if at some time in your dark past, you have read "The spy who came in from the cold".

An exotically re-embroidered tapestry of memory and moment.

How genius-like to pick up a majestic piece of one's work and then work back into it with such finesse and skill so that the newly worked area appears not only seamless but adds to the brilliance.
Wow.
All the old magic is there beautifully developed into a modern tale where elements such as " what is any of it for?" and " what can an older person make of a committed life"-all elements blended together so movingly.
How powerful the reality is that any series of events in any life, let alone a spy's life, is manipulated by and affected by the jealousy, ambition and thwarted love of others.

Tom Holland settled in and by the end, the brilliant actor that he is, helped to make this an an exemplar for all literary audiobooks.