Alex Leamas is exhausted. It's the 1960s, and he's spent years out in the cold, spying in Berlin for his British masters. He's seen too many good agents murdered in the line of duty. Now their leader finally wants him back—but only after one final mission. He must penetrate deep into the heart of communist Germany and betray his country, a task he will carry out with his customary cynical professionalism. However, when George Smiley tries to help a young woman Leamas has met, Leamas's mission may be the worst decision he's ever made. In le Carré's 1963 breakthrough work, the espionage story is reborn as a grim and gripping tale of men caught up in politics beyond their imagination. With a new introduction by William Boyd and an afterword by le Carré himself.