![]() ![]() Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, and Spy were the names that Control gave to his four deputies and he instructed Prideaux to radio him one of these words, just "one little word," to reveal who the traitor was. The last Secret Service chief, Control, was also convinced there was a traitor inside the Service and sent an agent, Jim Prideaux, into Czechoslovakia to spirit out a communist general who supposedly knew the identity of the mole. Smiley is brought out of retirement to identify the traitor but he is not the first to attempt the task. ![]() ![]() As the book opens, a new regime is in control of the British Secret Service and one of its leaders is working for the Soviets. He is almost old and has seen it all before he is tired but indefatigable he has no illusions but retains an unbroken sense of honour. The book's hero, George Smiley, is a great creation. The reader is carried forward on a tide of mounting suspense, uncertain of the identity of the traitor until the final pages. Its clever, elegant plot flashes between past and present, showing events from multiple points of view without ever creating confusion. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is my favourite espionage novel. ![]()
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